Saccharide
by DeathKnight KiraKira
Summary: She flashed the "good guy" sign in the mirror for the last as she watched the last trace of youthful bliss drain from her features. Innocence is dead. Fem!NaruHina. Yuri/girl love. Don't like, don't read.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do own the plot!**

* * *

"Why did I ever think things would change?" The six year old blonde thought while hiding her head between her knees. She had a rough day in the academy. The girls wouldn't leave her alone. One of them told her she was ugly and another shoved her out of the way so Sasuke wouldn't see her. They obviously didn't think that she was good enough for him to see. But the raven haired boy wasn't stupid. He saw the whole scene, but ignored it. She didn't matter.

The girl's knees were bruised and her arms were bloodied. Her hair was tangled and twisted from when one of the older girls pulled on it. She was a mess. But that didn't matter to her at the moment. All she could think of was the pain they put her through on a daily. The blonde wondered if they would ever stop; but quickly brushed of the idea as a fool's dream. It wouldn't stop and she'd be stupid to think otherwise.

Naruto was nothing less than kind and pleasant to her tormentors. She was friendly and tried to be social, even though they brushed her off each time. This was the last straw. She couldn't do it anymore. There was just no point if they continued to treat her this way.

"No more nice girl." She stood up, brushed herself off, and entered the small bathroom. She cleaned her wounds and with a simple pair of scissors; she tied her hair at shoulder length and cut it off. The blonde realized that the hair would eventually grow to be an inconvenience if she continued on the road of being a shinobi. She sighed at her wardrobe. The orange would also have to go. It would be too dangerous to run around in such a bright color. It screams "kill me, I'm stupid"! Instead she set out a pair of loose white shorts and a black top with the Uzumaki insignia on it.

"This will due just nicely." She said with a grimace. Tomorrow she would show them what they were turning her into. A dark, hateful person with no love not concern for humanity. They would regret everything they ever did to the blonde, without a doubt. Nobody messes with Naruto Uzumaki and gets away with it! Dattebayo! She flashed the "good guy" sign in the mirror for the last as she watched the last trace of youthful bliss drain from her features. Innocence is dead.

The room was in complete darkness now; except for the dim light that peered in from behind the thick curtain. She hadn't bothered turning on the light after leaving the bathroom. It really didn't matter, did it? Who cared if it was dark, anyway? She sure didn't. It was about time to leave again and go to class. Naruto knew she couldn't let them know shed been up all night crying. The other children also didn't have to know that the injuries they inflicted on the girl were worse than what they meant to give.

She walked out the door at steady, slow pace. Nobody seemed to notice her without her suicide-orange sweats. It's like she vanished and become one with the amorphous shadows of the day. That would've been wonderful, to not have to deal with the idiots the way she had to on a daily basis. Naruto would be like the clandestine anbu in the way that they hid who they were behind their awe-inspiring masks of mystery. How wonderful to sneak about without being seen.

The walk to school almost seemed surreal with her new outlook. Rather than being kind and gentle, Naruto will be cold and stoic. There was no longer any point in faking enthusiasm. Nor was there any point in acting like an idiot to garner their attention. Nothing the blonde did would help the situation any. Just ignoring them should be enough. If they bothered her, she could always shoot them that glare that was normally sent her way. That would show them.

When she entered the classroom no one was able to recognize her. Many whispers were exchanged between the students. One of the biggest questions being "is that loser trying to be cool?" But the question was soon answered when Naruto shot the offenders a cold, icy glare that dared them to keep talking. That quickly shut them up for a few minutes before they turned to continue on with their previous conversations. The first portion of the day was spent in the room where all students of both genders did their work together.

"Hello, class." Iruka said after entering the classroom. "Today we will talk about..." None of the students were paying attention to him, though. Instead, they were talking to each other about what they were doing after school. As always. Naruto scoffed at the scene before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

"Oi, loser! Loser!" someone shook Naruto roughly, nearly shoving her out of her seat. "Wake up!" Naruto lifted her head only enough to see Kiba. She glared daggers at him before getting up to leave. He wouldn't let her though. "Where do you think you're going?"

"My next class, dog breath." The blonde hissed at him before shoving him out of the way. Or tried to. Kiba grabbed a hold of before she could. "Let go of me, asshole." she yanked her arm away from him.

"Quit trying to be cool. You look stupid doing it!" He sneered with hopes of getting a rise out of her as he was always able to. But she didn't respond to him. Instead, she continued to walk away with him complaining and insulting her on the way out the door. "You're not cool, loser!" But it fell on deaf ears.

On the way out of the classroom a brunette secretly watched in awe From behind a tree. Her cheeks were flushed as she fidgeted and tried to be as inconspicuous as humanly possible. Luckily for her, the blonde hadn't noticed a thing. The girl watching Naruto was Hinata, the Hyuuga heiress. She always held a sort of fascination for the blonde Uzumaki. She would always wonder what hid behind the fake smiles and her overall bodacious persona. This sort of answered the unspoken questions. But why would the blonde suddenly drop the mask after all this time? Did she finally have enough of it?

The brunette kept her eye on the blonde and followed her. But not in a way that would seem unusual or stalkerish. She kept a reasonable amount of distant so that the other girl wouldn't see her. It would be awkward if Naruto caught her at this point. She might have to confess to the fact that shed been stalking the blonde since the beginning of school. That would prove to be quite the awkward experience. Imagine that. Telling the girl you're stalking that you're following her. Oh! All of the questions that would have to be answered from there.

A group of girls confronted the blonde with furious looks on their faces. Each of them held on to their dignity by a small string as they struck, what they thought to be, threatening poses. But as young 6 year olds, how threatening could it get? Not very.

"We saw you trying to be tough today! What, are trying to win over Sasuke's heart? You ugly dog." The blonde in the center, Ino, snarled at her. "Who do you think you are Uz-u-ma-ki?" She jabbed her finger into Naruto's chest with every syllable. "Well?" Hinata waited in silent anticipation. What would the infamous prankster do? Would she start laughing and say this whole stoic attitude was just an act? Would she? Hinata sure hoped so. Because of where this was going, she'd never be able to approach Naruto, nevertheless talk to her.

"You're in the way, pig." Naruto sneered. "Move or I'll make you move." She added venomously. After a few minutes of being blatantly ignored, the blonde Uzumaki shoved the blonde to the dirt and stepped on her while passing by. Hinata gaped from her hiding spot in horror. That wouldn't happen to her too, would it? She certainly didn't want the girl to hate her for whatever reason. Maybe she wanted to be friends? Hinata shook her head to rid it of these thoughts. That would never happen at this rate. There was no point in hoping.

She sighed in defeat and left her hiding spot to follow the girls to their next class. The class that she'd never wanted to skip so badly before. Hinata Hyuuga had always excelled at these feminine things, much to her pleasure and dismay. They certainty did help bring good words to the clan, but it also meant that they expected more of her in that regard. One slip-up and her family might disown her. Or at least, that's the impression she always got.

Naruto was never good at these things. She was clumsy and a bit lazy. Flower arrangement just wasn't her thing. Tea ceremonies were completely disastrous. Sure the blonde could make tea just as well- or better- than any of the other girls. But that wasn't the problem. The other girls would make fun of her and refused to give her credit where it was due. So rather than putting effort into it, she ruined the tea to the point that no one could drink it. Since then, the tea-making duties were placed in the "competent" hands of Sakura Haruno. The girl that Naruto was one infatuated with. But now she gave the pinkette the cold shoulder like she did everyone else.

Hinata sighed. It was gonna be a long day, wasn't it?

* * *

Naruto glared at the other girls as they picked their stupid flowers. Who cared about arrangements, anyways? They were a pointless waste of time that wouldn't help them in battle in the least bit. She picked a vibrant purple flower that caught her eye. It was an iris. It seemed to represent her dark feelings towards the annoying girls. Or at least, it gave that feeling. She picked a few more. After that she saw some white flowers that also caught her attention and picked those. They felt like innocence. Then came a dark crimson flower- passion. Before she knew it, an arrangement came to life in the heat of passion and fury. A venomous mixture that shouldn't usually mix, but went well together in the creation of a lovely bouquet.

The class stared in admiration and awe before realizing just who created this artful masterpiece. Of course Ino was the first to step up and ridicule the effort the other blonde put into it.

"So the ugly girl can slap together an arrangement?" She said before stepping up and knocking over the case of the vanished product. Shards of thick ceramic surrounded the two. "Oops. I'm so sorry- not!" She giggled and took a step closer while cautiously avoiding the sharp edges. "Ooh! Is the poor baby gonna cry?" She cooed. But no response came after her cruel taunting. "Well?" Nothing. the other girls began to Whisper behind the Yamanaka's back. "Shut it!" she snapped and the girls and they closed their mouths obediently.

"I was hoping you would've learned your lesson earlier, dirty pig." She said, once again using the name that, unbeknownst to them, Sakura would start calling Ino. "But I guess you'll never learn, will ya?" She spat and turned to leave.

Ino started to chase after the blonde after awhile. No one spoke to the fabulous Ino and got away with it! The "pig" lunged at the blonde after a few intense minutes of staring. She got a hold of Naruto's short hair for moment, but lost her grip when the "ugly girl" punched her in the stomach. The other girls formed a circle and began to chant "fight" until the teacher stepped in and pulled the two girls apart with a disapproving look at Ino and a threatening snare at Naruto. The their teacher would've let them fight if Ino was winning, they all knew that. But the tables have turned and Naruto fought back for once.

"Naruto Uzumaki, come with me." The woman in charge of the girls hissed and pointed at Naruto accusingly. "We need to have a word." They left the room of flower arrangements and stepped back outside into the cool air. "I won't have you going around and beating up poor, innocent girls." Naruto opened her mouth to protest, but was cut off. "I don't care you started it, you insolent child! Now go and apologize to her." She shoved the blonde to the door. "Well, do it!" She shrieked and shoved her once again. Naruto turned around and stated the woman down with murderous intent.

"Over. My. Dead. Body." The blonde bit and stormed off in the direction of home with a gaping teacher staring from behind. There wasn't much the woman could do since the child had no parents to discipline (or defend) her. So she just stared as her student left the school grounds without permission without even looking back.

Naruto wrapped her arms around herself tightly in attempt at keeping herself warm. It was actually quite cold for the season and her thin, cotton shirt provided no warmth to the small child. It only covered her. She let out a long sigh after feeling a pair of eyes trail after her. She truly hoped it wasn't one of those students. There wasn't any time for that kind of nonsense. All Naruto wanted to do was to go home and wrap herself up in her only blanket before finally going to sleep. Whoever it was wouldn't bring anything but trouble. She turned so fast one would've missed it, had they blinked at this particular moment.

"Who's there!?" She looked back and forth while feeling the paranoia creeping up. "Well!?" The blonde blinked back tears and bit her lip so hard it bled. As much as she hated to admit it, the girl was afraid. Afraid of whoever was out there and watching. Afraid that nobody would help her if the eyes meant to harm her. Afraid that she may never feel the warmth of the blankets she now missed dearly. Silence followed fell and thickened the atmosphere so that it became heavy with fear and sorrow. At this point Naruto was horror-struck and nearly paralyzed with terror. "H-hello?"

A shadow retreated back into darkness and the air finally calmed down. The blonde could move and ran as fast as she could to the comfort of home while hoping to never have to experience that again. The slammed the door, locked all fix locks, and retreated to her dark closet with her, now, favorite blanket and wept.

* * *

Hinata watched in horror as the blonde that she admired fled from her sight. Did her watchful eye really make the other girl feel that way? She wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Now her Naruto was scared and probably traumatized for life. It was already bad enough that many people tried to injure her on a daily basis. Adding a stalker with ill-intend to the list? Now that spelled trouble. The brunette carefully followed the girl home while keeping her gaze as soft and un-noticeable as possible. It wouldn't be good to get caught at a time like this.

Gathering up some courage, Hinata knocked on the door a few times. Timidly, but loud enough so that the other girl could hear it. The silence stretched until she finally heard the clicks of what sounding like several locks being opened. The Hyuuga heiress could only assume that they were there to keep out any threats. Threats like herself, perhaps? She certainly hoped not.

"What do you want?" The blonde glared holes into her head. Or more accurately- tried to. The brunette stared with fear in her eyes. This was not the Naruto she knew from before. After mumbling something incoherently, the blonde growled at her. "Speak up." It was clear that she didn't feel like dealing with this. "Or are you herd to finish what they started, Hinata-_hime_?" She hissed at the honorific and Hinata winced. She hadn't expected such a hostile response from the girl.

"N-no! I-I just w-wanted to..."

"Wanted to what!?" Naruto cut her off before she could explain to her why she was there. "You're no better! In fact, you're worse! Pretending to be so kind and gentle when you're no better than them. I hate you! Ya hear me? So piss off and go pick flowers or some shit. I don't care!" The food was slammed in her face. A stunned silence followed before the ran off in tears. Hinata no longer remembered why she once admired the blonde. All she saw now was a bitter girl with a horrible temper and cold, dead eyes and the Saccharide smile that once hid it all. She saw her the way everyone else did. A monster.

The Hyuuga heiress but back the tears that threatened to overflow as she ran back to the compound. If was about the time that class ended and she knew her father wouldn't come to pick her up, as it was expected of her to know the way back. She would be the head of the clan one day, she needed to know how to make it through the village safely and quickly.

"What's the matter, my beautiful young girl?" Her mother asked before Hinata rushed to her arms in tears. She date not speak of the encounter with a certain Uzumaki. She dare not speak of Naruto. The girl she loved and now she one she hates.

* * *

**Author's Note: it may not seem like it, but this leads to eventual NaruHina. Their love will be turbulent, but well worth the effort! Please review! I'm also searching for a beta-reader if anyone is interested! Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for the lovely reviews! They will help me so that I can continue on with the same enthusiasm I started with! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

6 years have passed since Naruto changed. Everyone else thought that it was only a phase that she was going through and would get over, but that never happened. A lot has happened since, including the attempted kidnapping of Hinata Hyuuga as well as the Uchiha massacre. Sasuke was still the heart-throb to all of the girls and. Naruto was... Naruto. She hardly ever talked to anyone anymore and kept to herself instead. This unnerved them, as one would think. But at least they didn't have to associate themselves with a dead-last.

Naruto walked in lazily and sat the very back. Iruka's eye twitched as he tried to control his temper.

"I'm at the end of my rope, Naruto. You failed the graduation test last time and the time before that. Tomorrow you've got another chance and you're messing up again." He said in annoyance as Naruto ignored him, as always. Iruka points at her dramatically. "Fine! Because you missed it Naruto, everyone will review the transformation jutsu!"

"Aaawwwww" the class complains before they all line up. Sakura went first.

"Alright, Sakura here! Let's do it. Transform!" She says to no one in particular before transforming into a perfect replica of Iruka.

"Transformed into me. Goood." He says before she changes back.

"Yes I did it!" She cheered to herself, but her inner-self thought something more of the lines of "I kicked butt!" She turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, did you see that?" She asked him even though he ignored her.

"Next... Sasuke Uchiha." Sakura goes to the back of the line and Sasuke also transforms into him perfectly.

"Uh, good. Next Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto is standing next to Shikamaru and Ino. Both are fuming with their hands in their pockets.

"This is a total waste of time Naruto." Shikamaru muttered lazily.

"We always pay for you screw-ups." She said with a little more venom than what was necessary. Naruto glared at her in return.

Naruto walks up to the front and mutters "like I care" before standing in front of the large crowd. Hinata refuses to meet her gaze as the blonde sets up the hand signs for the jutsu. Just when everyone expected for her to revert back to the prankster everyone abhorred, Naruto did the jutsu correctly. Everyone stared in shock. If it were anyone else, success would be expected. But this was Naruto we were talking about!

"Alright. Next!" The rest of the students took their turns transforming into him before taking their seats once again. He looked to Naruto with disappointment in his eyes and she met them with general contempt. It was a battle of wills that went on silently between student and teacher. Electricity filled the air as well as the empty void of dead silence. "Tomorrow we'll have a test to see who passes on to being a genin." Iruka was the first to break eye contact after several minutes. "Be sure to study hard because you'll never know what technique I'll pick." He glanced at the blonde and a general understanding passed between the two. "If you fail, you'll have to stay here a bit longer. You don't want that, do you?" They all shook their head. "Good. Class dismissed."

They piled out of the classroom and into their next classes where they went to their gender-assigned classes. Naruto hated the class with a bloody passion. She couldn't understand why they still did this at age 12. There wasn't any point anymore. They already knew all they needed from origami to putting on the most complex kimonos. What else could they possibly learn? Nothing. That's what. An older lady watched over them this year. She was in charge of the last-year students. She was a kind, wrinkly lady of 70 with long, silver hair and gentle eyes. Her name was Megumi.

"Welcome to your last day of class." She smiled sweetly at everyone. Well, everyone but Naruto. She tried not to pay that one much mind. "You may have the day off to do whatever you wish. You are now ladies." She paused. "Well, most of you." She said in good humor while looking at the blonde Uzumaki, but most didn't believe it to be gentle teasing. They smirked at het coldly and Megumi shook her head in regret. Naruto wasn't bad. She was just... Scared. But the others didn't understand this. They refused to look past what their parents taught them and see under the underneathe. That would become their downfall someday.

Some of the girls gathered their last arrangement while others served tea. Naruto kept her distance, however. Instead of joining in with the others, she took her spot on the lone swing. She felt those familiar eyes watching her. The ones of Hinata Hyuuga, the cruel stalker that nearly gave her hope. She wasn't even sure why the Hyuuga heiress followed her anymore.

"What do you want?" Then the eyes were gone. "Of course. Why do I even bother?" She swayed a little in the seat without actually swinging. She was no alone as always. "Here I thought she'd actually talk to me." Why did she feel disappointed?

* * *

Hinata's arms clung to her sides as tears threatened to spill over. She almost regretted her decision to hate Naruto and pretend she didn't exist. Almost. Especially after the last comment the blonde made about being disappointed that she ran away. Why would the other girl want to talk to her after what happened? Her shoulders slumped against the rigid bark of the tree. Nothing good would come of trying to talk to her. Naruto would only reject her so it didn't really matter.

_"Why do I even bother?"_ She asked herself while trying nog to look at the other girl. There wasn't any reason for her to even feel this way about Naruto. But the Hyuuga heiress loved her. No... She hates her. That's right. Hate. She walked away after awhile when class ended and made her way to the compound for another day of unreasonably hard training and emotional abuse from her father. She already knew at this point that they would most likely make her sister, Hanabi, the head of the family instead of her. She was the prodigy of the clan, the true beauty and power, unlike the awkward and shy Hinata.

They were even considering having Neji, a branch member, as head if the family until Hanabi was born because of how weak they saw her to be. She didn't have a chance and everyone knew it. The brunette pushed open the door and walked to her room without bothering to greet her parents. Her father was furious, but her mother was worried and opened her mouth to speak. But it was too late. Hinata locked herself in and put a chakra barrier in the room so that no one could enter without permission. So that no one would hear her cry. Their opinion of her weakness will only be further justified if they knew that she cried everyday after school.

"Hinata, dear?" She could hear outside the door, though. "Are you using chakra to keep me out again?" Her mother asked. Her father didn't even know that she was capable of creating chakra barriers. The only reason her mother knew was because she actually bothered to check on her when she got this way. Which was every single day for the past 6 years since the incident with Naruto. "Please let me in" Hinata let her shield drop long enough for her mom to come inside with her.

"Kaa-san." She greeted her with a weak smile and dropped her head in her hands. "She- she still h-hates me. What do I d-do?" Only her mother knew of the situation between her and the orphan. Anyone else would ridicule het for harboring such feelings for the blonde, bug her mother encouraged it as strength to see what others could not. Goodness.

"I'm sure she'll come along in her own time." She paused after a moment. "What did she say?"

"S-she was dis-appointed that I didn't ta-talk to her. What d-does that mean?" She managed to spit it out. Her mother gave her a thoughtful look before giving her a response.

"Maybe she doesn't hate you, Hinata. Maybe she just wants for you to see her as human, rather than a monster like everyone else." she regarded her daughter with gentle eyes. "Do you think you can do that?" She asked. Hinata nodded uncertainly in response. "I'm so lucky to have such a kind daughter."

"But I'm weak!" Hinata squeaked.

"No." Her mom whispered and Hjnata's eyes widened in fear.?"You're the strongest of them all." Then she clung to her mother and sobbed. She let out all of the rest of her tears before wiping her eyes and standing in determination. Something would have to change. Naruto deserved somebody to treat her well and Hinata just hoped that the girl would let her in. She could only hope...

* * *

Naruto closed the door and slumped to the floor. She felt numb. Cold and numb. Her heating system broke and the landlord refuses to get it fixed. So now she has to huddle up in her only blanket for warmth. To top that off, the only food she was given was cup ramen. Not that she hated it, she just wanted food with more nutrients. But it didn't matter because they wouldn't listen no matter what she said.

Hinata was watching her again. Not that she cared, it just seemed odd that the heiress would still acknowledge her after what was said and done 6 years ago. Didn't the brunette hate her? She mused after a moment before standing up and getting int position. There was no way Naruto would fail this time. She would actually try this time. Much harder than ever before, too. If practice makes perfect, then there's no way that she'd fail!

Holding her hands together, she began to make the hand signs before shouting "clone jutsu" at the top of her lungs. It was her worst technique, so she thought it would be a good idea to practice on that one. But the first several attempts were horrible. They all looked dead... Unable to even move. After several attempts, she got one that was almost passable. The only problem was that it would suddenly combust like a bomb! Unless she wanted to blow up the classroom, this jutsu was out of question. Then again, she might be able to convince them to let her set up chakra barriers to keep in the explosion. That would be the safest bet for her. If anything... The explosive clones could be utilized in battle. Easily. She smiled, but faintly. They can't fail her for a technicality, could they?

She was so wrong. The day of the test came sooner than she could've hoped for. It was time for her to go up and she asked to put up a barrier of sorts. The class laughed at her.

"What? Is it so bad that ya don't want to hear up laugh at you when you fail?" One scoffed.

"Why would you need a barrier, ugly?" Ino snapped.

Naruto glared at them and they stopped laughing. Iruka agreed after she whispered something in his ear about an explosion. What ever it could be- it wouldn't be good. She did the jutsu and they both jumped out of the barrier. They didn't respond- until it exploded! They soon realized that she could've killed them all if the barrier hadn't been put in place. The blonde scratched the back of her neck with a dark look on her face. They paled.

"It could be used on dangerous missions." She mumbled before walking back to her seat. On the way there Iruka said he couldn't pass and there was a discussion between him and Mizuki. Mizuki said to just pass her, but Iruka wouldn't let that happen. Great. She failed on a technicality after all.

Class ended and she found herself on the swing set once again. Her hair fell at shoulder length and her clothes consisted of a light blue Chinese shirt and basic black shinobi pants. The lady at Ichiraku's was able to help her get new clothes and let her pick anything she wanted. But her new look meant nothing.

"Ha ha passed it with flying colors." One of the students said.

"They called me first."

She stared at the clouds from the swing and listened to the chipper voices of the new genin.

"I'm a ninja, genin."

"I wish your grandma were here to see this. I'm proud of you son, we all are."

At this point she began to drown them all out. Their happiness meant nothing to her. Nothing mattered to her as she sat alone while other laughed and exchanger congratulations while planning events for the families in celebration of their children's success. Naruto wouldn't have had that even if she did graduate. No one would congratulate her at home. No one would help her bd ready for the future ahead. She'd be met by silence and loneliness.

She's alone.

"There, do you see her?" A woman pointed at Naruto.

"It's that girl. I hear she's the only one who failed." The second woman whispered. Naruto tried to block them out again, but failed.

"Hmph! Well it serves her right." She lowered her head in shame as the first woman said this.

"Just imagine if she became a ninja. I mean she's the girl who-" her eyes widened at that. What were they talking about?

"Shhh! We're not aloud to talk about that!" The first woman said and ended the conversation. Naruto's eyes trailed after her curiously. Mizuki stood by Naruto.

"Iruka-senei's tough, but he's not against you." He said and Naruto glared at him, but didn't respond. "He wants you to be strong with all his heart, but that will never happen if he goes easy on you. He's like you, ya know? No parents…no family." Naruto's eyes narrowed at this and dared him to continue. He sighed in defeat before continuing. Mizuki chuckles. "Then I guess I have to tell you."

"What?" She hissed, not really caring what he had to say.

"It's a secret, but I'm gonna let you in on it." He told her small about a scroll and how there's techniques in it that would impress Iruka and he'd have to let her graduate. She weighed her options and chose not to steal it. "Not interested." Mizuki gaped.

"How could you not be interested?" He hissed under his breath.

"I'm just not. If you want the scroll, steal it yourself." She stood up and turned to walk away.

"They've been lying to you your whole life Naruto. Since the decree twelve years ago." He yelled after her and she turned around again. Her fists were clenched so tightly they turned bone-white."

"What decree?" She bit back."

"Everyone knows except you." he grinned wickedly.

"What is this decree? Why does everyone else know about it?" She yelled. Iruka was running their way.

"Don't tell her, it's forbidden!" Iruka screamed from afar.

"The decree is no one can tell you the nine-tail fox is inside you!" He said to her and her eyes widened in horror. "The fox spirit that killed Iruka's parents and destroyed our village has taken over your body! You are the nine-tails fox!" He continued, despite Iruka's protests.

"STOOOP IT!" Iruka yells, but Naruto is now in shock.

"They've all been sneaking around hiding things from you your whole life. Didn't you think it was strange how they treated you? Like dirt! Like they hated you for just being alive!" Mizuki smirked at Naruto's agony. "Iruka is the same! He actually hates you! No one will ever accept you!"

Before she could respond, Naruto was on the ground and Iruka hovered over her with a large shuriken in his back. A clone attacked from a concealed place, so neither of them had time to respond.

"But... why?" she gasped.

"Yeah... Naruto, you must have bee in a lot of pain." he was in tears. "I'm sorry Naruto. If I had done a better job, you wouldn't have had to feel this." Naruto glared at Mizuki before making the similar hand signs. Before the other man could scream, he was surrounded by hundreds of explosive shadow clones.

"Run!" Both Naruto and Iruka ran as fast as their legs could take them. Mizuki took the explosion at full blast and was now in millions of pieces.

"Naruto, come over here. I have something to give to you." Naruto stared at him blankly for a moment before reluctantly stepping forward. "Now close your eyes." she felt something being tied on her head. "Now open them." she was shocked once she discovered that Iruka no longer wore his forehead protector. She had it now. "Congratulations on graduating." his kind smile said that he didn't mind. But somehow, she felt extremely guilty for getting him injured back there. "Let's celebrate! I'll buy you a bowl of ramen!" She smiled sadly at him and agreed to the ramen. She couldn't turn him down.

* * *

Something's getting in the way.

Something's just about to break.

I will try to find my place in the diary of Jane.

As I burn another page,

As I look the other way.

I still try to find my place in the diary of Jane.

So tell me how it should be."

* * *

**Hinata is trying to find a way to talk to her, but she's conVince's that Hinata is trying to give her false hope! Oh no!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm gonna graduate today! Yay!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the song suicide circus by the gazette! I want to, though. Hinata, more specifically. She's so adorable! Enjoy the chapter!**

**Warning: bad language! Use of the f-bomb! Be warned.**

* * *

It was as bit after the unexpected graduation and Naruto was now getting her picture. She wore her new outfit; the blue Chinese top and black pants. It took several minutes for them to take the picture. It only took that long because they kept trying to get her to smile. That didn't happen. The picture showed a very pissed of Naruto. Her arms were crosses and her eyes were dark.

She was now at the Hokage's office. Apparently it wasn't ok to glare the camera to death and that it might scare off potential clients.

"Retake it!"

The blonde's eye began to twitch uncontrollably. She wasn't sure what to expect, but this certainty wasn't it. What was wrong with the picture?

"Why should I? If anything it should draw in clients. They don't want weak looking shinobi doing work for them!" Naruto thought that it was a pretty valid explanation, but the old man disagreed with her. "You've got to admit, it's a valid reason!" She snapped. Now the Hokage's eye was twitching. Why did he have to deal with such a stubborn brat? Then his eyebrow raised.

"Where's your head plate?" He mused aloud, not actually expecting a real answer.

"Oh, that. I'm saving it for the official ceremony tomorrow." Now that was a pretty valid reason. He smiled lightly at that. Well, until the food crashed open and a young boy shouted, catching their attention.

"Old man, fight me!" The Hokage sighed with thoughts along the line of "will this ever end" and Naruto sat there, gaping. If was a small child with spiky hair, mostly concealed by a hat with pins. He wore a simple shirt, shorts, and a long scarf. All in all, he looked like a moron.

"The hell?" She finally said.

"Oh! Not again!" Another man trailed after the kid.

"Owww!" The kid tripped. "Damn it! Who set a trap!" Naruto suddenly felt the desire to flea. Whatever was about to go down, she wanted no part of. Who was this kid?

"Are you alright?" He was a weird looking man with a bandana and glasses. "And there isn't a trap anywhere!" He added.

"Hey..." The kid looked at her. "I know! You did something!" He yelled at her accusingly."

"You just tripped on your own, you idiot!" Then she grabbed a hold of his shirt. The man that followed him began to flail with a horror-struck look on his face.

"Hey, Naruto! Let go of him! That's the 3rd Hokage-sama's grandson!" He yelled. Oh... So the brat was the old man's grandson... Right.

"Go ahead and punch me!" He said with a triumphant smirk. Naruto saw this and realized that the kid thought she wouldn't do anything with this new revelation. Well... He was dead wrong.

"You think I give a damn!?" She hit him. Hard. The other two didn't know what to make of this. She actually did it? The old man wasn't surprised, though. She never was one to listen to authority. He just hoped that her rebellious nature wouldn't eventually lead to her defecting from the village. That wouldn't be any good.

She was now walking along, minding her own business. Well, she was mostly trying to ignore the damn brat that was following her. It was already bad enough that she had a heiress for a stalker. Now a brat? What did the blonde girl do to deserve any of this? Finally giving up, the jinchuriki scoffed and turned to see the mismatched square on the fence. It would've worked... But he was holding it incorrectly.

"Stop following me." She said with more venom than necessary. "And what the hell is that? You're not fooling anyone!" She scoffed and turned to leave.

"Hehe. Impressive to see through this. The rumors about you are true." He looked a little too pleased with himself for her liking. "Hey, I'll let you be my boss."

"What?" She couldn't control the twitching in her eye.

"In exchange..." He paused and his eyes sparkled with glee. "Teach me that "sexy no jutsu" you defeated grandpa with! Please! Boss!"

"Boss?" His eyes lit up for a moment. "Drop dead." Then the light died done as fast as it appeared. He was truly disappointed. "I only did it because the old man pissed me off. It was an "on-the-fly" kind of technique. It's just a type of henge. Now, if you'll excuse me." Naruto finally left. The kid stared as she walked away. This wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to ignore him that way!

* * *

Decay of the vision  
Here is a hell on earth  
I felt a chill  
The disappointment that increases

* * *

Naruto woke up with a yawn and stretched. It was the day of the ceremony and she would have to go and see the students again. Great. Then after that they'd put her in a genin group. Lovely. Not. She got up to get dressed, picking out her usual clothing. Then she went to the bathroom to take a shower to wake her up. A nice cup of coffee would be nice, but she couldn't exactly afford such luxuries. It took 10 minutes to shower, as as brushing her hair and teeth.

Looking in the cupboards and found a box of generic cereal. She couldn't afford the good stuff, so this is what she got. It was... Edible, but not something she'd choose if she could but the brand. No matter. Another thing that disappointed her was that the milk went bad. Looks like it was dry cereal for breakfast! She grumbled while eating, checking the clock every now and then to make sure that she wouldn't be late to the ceremony. Now that would be a pain.

Walking there didn't take as long as she would've thought. Maybe it was because she got faster and didn't realize it? Could that be? Nah. Not in such a short amount of time. The jinchuriki sat down so quietly they no one noticed her at first. Another student walked up to her with a shocked and annoyed look on his face.

"Naruto, what the hell are you doing here!?" He yelled, bringing everyone to the, now embarrassed, blonde girl. "Only those who passed can be here!" He looked like an idiot with the way he flailed about.

"Look at the forehead protector, moron. I graduated. Now if you don't mind, I'm trying to enjoy the quiet. Asshole." He paled. She wasn't usually this vocal with her anger. He must've really pissed her off. The boy left her alone and took his seat. Just like everyone else, the guy started up a conversation about the upcoming ceremony and his dreams of the future.

An angry pinkette stormed over to the desk and stopped in front of Naruto.

"Hey, will you let me through?" She said nicely, but the blonde glared and then ignored her. What the hell did she want? "Naruto! Move you're ass! I want to sit on the other side of you!" She wasn't sure why, but understood as soon as she looked to see a certain duck-ass, Sasuke, sitting next to her. Typical. She wants the sit next to him.

"Try the other side, lazy. I'm not moving." The blonde jinchuriki leaned back and put her feet on the desk. "If you want to sit by him so badly." She added with a smirk. "Then ask him to sit by you on the other side. Coward."

"That's hypocritical!" She shrieked. "Move it!"

"Make me." Naruto said and made eye contact.

"Fine!" She walked around in defeat. "Sasuke-kun! Can I sit by you?" She latched onto his arm. After feeling as if there wasn't any choice, Sasuke moved over. Begrudgingly, but he moved over. This put him right next to Naruto on the booth.

The pinkette stared him with starry eyes and Naruto began to feel sorry for the guy. At this rate he wouldn't make it out without his first kiss being stolen. Probably violently, considering who he was sitting by. She shot him a piteous look and mouthed "sorry" at the brunette. He just "hn-ed" at her. In normal person language, that could probably be translated to "that's alright" or "fuck off". But she wasn't sure.

"Beginning today, you are all real ninja." Naruto wasn't sure when it happened, but the instructor stepped in and started talking without her knowing. "But you are still merely rookie genin. The hard part has just started." He began to pace until he finally stopped at the dead center of the class. "Now... You will soon be assigned duties by the village. "So today we will be creating 3 man teams..." Iruka paused. "And each group will have a "Jounin" sensei. "You will follow that sensei's instructions as you complete the assigned duties."

_"Pfft... 3 man teams? That's just more people in the way." _Sasuke thought, his hands folded under his chin as they always were.

_"I have to be with Sasuke-kun!" _Sakura thought.

_"Damn it. I have to work with someone? I hope I get Shikamaru. At least he isn't troublesome." _Naruto thought, scowling at the rest of the class.

"We tried to balance each team's strengths." Iruka said as everyone began to protest. He began to name each team. Naruto ignored him until his name was mentioned. "Next, team 7... Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha." Sakura was angry, then happy when she heard Sasuke's name. The other two were indifferent.

"Why the hell do I have to have a loser like Naruto on my team!" Sakura shrieked.

"Sasuke's were the top among the students and Naruto was the dead last. We needed to have balance." He sweat-dropped. Sakura grumbled and quit talking.

"Just don't get in my way... Dead last." Sasuke said.

"I'm only dead last because I don't give a fuck." Naruto said honestly and everyone else sweat-dropped, except for Sasuke. He smirked. Naruto stretched out his arms lazily and let out a long yawn. "I don't see why we need to be in teams, what a pain in the ass." Sasuke grunted in agreement. Sakura was the only one in the group that was happy about the teamwork thing. Well... She didn't want to work with Naruto.

"Ok... This afternoon we'll introduce the Jounin senseis. Take a break until then!"

* * *

[TICK-TACK…]

Nobody can rewind time  
Don't look away  
Suicide circus

Aged hatred and young cold-blooded mind  
Reason of the chill  
The Crawling Poverty

* * *

A certain brunette stood, watching a certain blonde from behind a tree. Although the memory of that conversation Sakura and Sasuke had about Naruto. She was sitting in the shadows somewhere, completely minding her own business. She had no intention of listening in to the conversation, but a certain blonde girl was mentioned.

_"It's time to go." Sasuke told Sakura. Based on the the time, Hinata assumed that he meant it was time to meet their new sensei. "Where's Naruto?" Sakura didn't seem to like that the other girl was mentioned._

_"Don't change the subject." She said shakily. Whys she acting so... Weird? "Who cares about Naruto? All she does is ignore everyone! When isn't ignoring them, she's insulting them!" She complained. After a moment of thinking, added- "Well, she hasn't had a normal childhood. She has no parents." The last comment caught Sasuke's attention. "She can do whatever she wants. If I acted like her my parents would get so mad at me." She said as if justifying her behavior. "She's so lucky, all alone, with no one to get on her case. That's why he misbehaves so much." A dark look crossed Sasuke's face._

_"All alone." he suddenly said._

_"Huh?" Sakura stopped in her tracks. _

_"The sadness of having a parent tell at you is nowhere near what she feels." He mused._

_"What's this... All of a sudden?" She was trembling. Sasuke's eyes narrowed._

_"You're... Annoying" he said and left her standing there, a shell-shock expression marring her features._

Hinata couldn't stop thinking about it as she watched her from afar. Of course the shy brunette would notice these things after trailing after the girl for so many years. She'd be a moron to have missed such things. Although she was a little surprised to hear it coming from Sasuke, of all people. He wasn't exactly known for being the most emotional guy out there. But there he was, defending the blonde as if she were a friend... Sister... Or... She didn't want to think of that.

She watched silently as Sakura and Sasuke walked up to the blonde.

"It's time to go." He told her.

Hinata watched as they departed, now thinking of her own meeting with her sensei. She would also have to leave soon so that she wouldn't be late. The brunette stood up and went back to the building. On the way there she met her teammates. then soon after, she got to meet her sensei.

* * *

[TICK-TACK…]

Nobody can rewind time  
The shattered Merciless scene

People get attracted by the liveliness  
Even the fear that is sticked to your hand I touch  
Will fade away sooner or later  
Metamorphosis

* * *

It's been a few hours and their sensei hasn't shown their self yet. Naruto was starting to become agitated as she paced back and forth. Then an idea came to her. She picked up a chalkboard eraser and strategically placed of so that it would hit the sensei as he or she came in. The only problem was that it most likely wouldn't work, considering the fact that the sensei will be a Jounin. She still thought it would be worth a try. Sakura seemed to agree, albeit secretly. Very secretly.

"That's what you get for being late." She shrugged and looked at them.

"I'm not involved." Sakura said, but Naruto knew better. She knew that the pinkette secretly enjoyed these types of thing. The fire in her eyes said so.

"Pft. Like a Jounin is going to fall for such a simple booby trap." Sasuke scoffed. But he spoke too early. Naruto chuckled lightly under her breath. Sakura apologized frantically while her inner self thought completely differently. Sasuke questioned their sensei. Their sensei?

"Hmmm... how can I say this? My first impression is... I don't like you guys."

They met on the rooftop after the little... Incident. The three genin sat on benches while their jounin sensei sat in front of them. He was an odd looking man with spiky hair, face mask, abad a head protector that covers his right eye. He was mysterious, but annoying. Mysteriously annoying, Naruto decided.

"Ok... Let's begin with some introductions." The jounin started.

"What do you want to know?" Sakura asked.

"How about... Your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies, stuff like that." He said with a slight shrug thst suggested that he didn't really care that much.

"Why don't you introduce yourself first?" Naruto said with her arms crossed and her head thrown back. She watched him challengingly.

"Yea... You look suspicious." Sakura said.

"Ohh... Me? I'm Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you guys about my likes and dislikes. Dreams of the future? Hmm. Well, I have lots of hobbies." he said without really saying anything. All he did was repeat the questions in answer form.

"So all we learned... Is his name." Sakura said with a twitchy eye.

"Now it's your turn. From the right." He said.

"Damn it." Said Naruto. "Fine. I'm Uzumaki Naruto. 'nough said. Now let's this over with!" She began muttering about useless wastes of time while everyone just gaped at her. The answer was less than an answer than Kakashi's. "What?" She hissed after they stared longer than she was comfortable with.

"No likes, dislikes, dreams, or hobbies?" Asked Kakashi.

"Nothing that concerns you" she said bluntly. "Besides, how do I know you won't use it against me." Her eyes narrowed.

"I... See." He said nervously. "Next."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke." He began. "There are tons of things that I dislike, but I don't really like anything. And... I don't want to use the term "dream", but.." He paused. "I have an ambition. To revive my clan and... To kill a certain man.

"And now, pinky." He said.

"I'm Haruno Sakura. The thing I like is..." She paused. "Well the person I like is..." She never said his name, but everyone knew. "Umm... Should I say the dream for my future?" She thought really hard. "Oh my!" she yelped. "The thing I dislike is... Naruto. My hobby is..." Kakashi sweat-dropped at the whole thing. Most girls are more interested in love than in ninjutsu at that age. Well... Except for maybe Naruto.

"That's enough of that! We will start out duties tomorrow." He stated simply.

"Duties? What kind?" Naruto asked.

"First we're going to do something with just the four of us." they all asked. "Survival training."

"Survival training?" Naruto scoffed.

"Why is our duty training?" Sasuke tsk-ed.

"We did enough training at the ninja academy." Sakura whined.

"I'm your opponent, but this isn't normal training." They stared at him in confusion.

"Then... What it is?" Naruto said before Kakashi began to laugh.

"What's so funny, sensei?" She asked.

"No, well... It's just that... When I tell you guys, you are definitely gonna flip." He waved one arm while hand his waist with the other. "Of the 27 graduates, only 9 will pass on as genin. The rest will be sent back to the academy. The training is super difficult exam with a failure of over 66%." They all gave him shocked expressions. "Heh. I knew you'd flip."

"What the fuck? What's the point in graduation if we have to go through this shit?" Naruto swore under her breath for a few minutes.

"Oh... That? That's just to select those who have a chance at becoming a genin." Kakashi said.

"Uhh... What?" They all gasped.

"Anyways, tomorrow you will be graded on the training grounds. Bring all your shinobi tools. Oh, and skip breakfast. You'll throw up." He smiled. Naruto looked at the clouds with determination set in her eyes. There was no way that she was going to lose.

* * *

All is paralyzed  
Chain reaction  
Sympathizers with a similar pain

Bear the future that won't be saved  
And your weakness that went astray  
Cut off the depressed self you've lost singht of  
And the loneliness you wanted me to experience  
Missing each other in these day of distress  
That suddenly filled up everything in front of your eyes  
And your melancholy  
Holding hatred against these words that come from affection  
And the exposed madness without regret

* * *

**Sorry Hinata isn't here much! So... Do you like what I did with the song? Yes? No? You'll also notice that I'm probably slow down in posting... **


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to all who've been reading up to this point! Your reviews, follows, and favorites all help to motivate me so that I can write more! **

**Many thanks to:**

**AdorkableAlyssa **

**Jarick**

**Thunder Claw03**

**Vander93**

**ValeriNeria**

**For giving reviews for the past few chapters. I hope that this story continues to grow. Thanks to you and all of the viewers.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Warning: Extreme angst**

* * *

"Hey guys, good morning." Kakashi said.

"You're late!" They all said at once. Well, Sakura screamed it out. Their sensei didn't really seem to care, though. He put down a timer and set it for noon.

"Alright, it's set for noon." He picked up a couple of bells. "Here are the two bells. Your task is to take them from me before noon." He said. "Those who cannot get a bell before noon get no lunch. I'll not only tie you to the stumps, but I'll eat right in front of you." The all suddenly realized just why he said they couldn't eat breakfast. It was a trick!

"You only need to get one bell." He continued. "There are only two, so one of you will definitely get tied to the stump." The others tensed up at this. There was more, wasn't there? "Also, the person who doesn't get a bell fails. So at least one of you will go back to the academy." They were all shocked. "You can even use your shuriken. You won't pass unless you come at me with the intent to kill."

"But... You'll be in danger!" Sakura yelled in shock. Was he suicidal.

"Tch. You can't even dodge a blackboard eraser." Naruto scoffed.

"Whatever. Start. The basics of a ninja are to hide yourself." He said and they all hid. Well, except for Naruto. She stayed out in the open. The others stared at her like she was stupid.

Naruto leaned against a tree and slumped to ground. What's the point in hiding if you don't really care much about the fight. She stared up at the clouds with a sigh. What's the point of any of this? She continued to rest until several kunai came flying at her. She looked up to see Kakashi. Great. He planned on ruining the moment.

"Ninja lesson #1... taijutsu. I'll teach you about that." He put his hand in a bag to... draw out a weapon? Isn't taijutsu hand to hand? Yet he's using a weapon... She thought too soon. He pulled out a book. Icha Icha Paradise? "What's wrong? Come at me!"

"Why do you have a book?" She was so confused. Why the hell would he?

"Why? Well, because I want to know what happens next. Don't worry, it won't make much of a difference against you guys." He drawled.

"I'll kick your ass!" She rushed in head first, hoping to get a few hits it. But he easily stopped her. It didn't even take any effort on his part. So this is a jounin? He continued to stop and dodge all of her moves while reading that book. Nothing the jinchuriki did seemed to do anything.

"A ninja isn't supposed to get caught from behind." Before she knew it, Kakashi-sensei was behind her. The other two teammates began to scream for her to leave, but she's stubborn. Then again, she wasn't exactly sure what was going on. Did they know?

"Hidden leaf ancient taijutsu supreme technique. 1000 years of pain!" He shrieked and poked her in the... Butt. Then she flew in the air. What?

"What... That's not a ninjutsu." Sakura muttered under her breath. "That was just a super powerful ass poke."

"Pft. Two total morons." Sasuke replied, much to Sakura's surprise.

The whole time the two were speaking, the other two were still fighting. Naruto wasn't having any luck. No surprising, considering it's a jounin she's up against. A JOUNIN and not some other genin.

"Hey, what's wrong? If you don't get a bell by noon, no lunch." Kakashi taunted.

"I know that." Naruto grumbled while climbing out of a pond that she was thrown in halfway through the fight. She was fuming. There was no way she could lose at this point. Even if the first part of the battle was spent cloud-gazing. She was kind of hoping the other two would attack while the jounin was distracted. Oh well.

"You sure are weak for someone who's going to surpass Hokage." He said.

"I was just being careless!" She yelled back, now feeling the full effects of hunger. It was sickening.

"You know they say carelessness is the shinobi's worst enemy?" Kakashi retorted.

She pulled herself out of the water and suddenly- several clones emerged along with her. They all surrounded Kakashi. They all began to explode. He moved back and the real Naruto grabbed him from behind with a smirk. The others stared in shock.

"I thought shinobi weren't supposed to get from behind." The others were surprised at her plan and secretly applauded at the brilliance. Until he used kawarimi to escape. Then she saw a bell and ran for it. Well, before she stepped onto a trap and got pulled up to the tree.

"Think before using a jutsu. It could get used against you." He picked up the bell and began to toss it up and down. "Learn to think beneath to underneath."

Sasuke jumped out from his hiding place after seeing an opening. He even thought he hit him until a log took his place. Kawarimi!

"He showed an opening on purpose! Pathetic! I fell for it." Sasuke said.

Elsewhere, Sakura was looking for "her" Sasuke-kun. She was so worried that something happened; but refused to believe that anything could because he was Sasuke. Nothing bad could ever happen to him. (Right...)

"Sakura, behind you." She found herself face-to-face with Kakashi-sensei. At the moment she realized that there wasn't much that she could do. Before she knew it, thousands of leaves surrounded her and put her in a kind of daze.

"Sakura..." She heard Sasuke's voice from behind a bush.

"Sasuke-kun!" She went to where she heard to voice to see Sasuke, broken and bleeding. He begged her to help. She started to tremble in fear before tears ran down her face. She screamed.

_"I might have gone to far. Genjutsu, she easily fell for it." _Kakashi watched her in disappointment.

* * *

Hinata already went through her little test and passed. She went to the place where she first say Naruto, that tree at the academy. The one with the swing. That blonde girl would always come here when she had something on her mind. Nobody knew her the way the Hyuuga heiress did. She also doubted that no one cared as much as she did, even if she was supposed to hate her. Hinata tried to at one point. Now she needs to tell the girl why she was there all those years years ago and why she would keep chasing her until the bitter end.

She sat down in the swing, a girl mistreated by her father and everyone else in the clan, besides her mother. She was the one everyone avoided because she was "weird and creepy". Despite all of that, she still attempted to befriend the people of Konoha. Hinata tried to make this place her home. She knew Naruto felt the same. There was no place for them, right? She began to move in the swing. Kicking her feet so that she sways back and forth along with the wind that rustled the leaves.

Then Hinata had an idea. She had a proposition for Naruto. It would have it wait until they were chunin, of course. They needed to be strong enough first. Strong enough to hold off the enemies in battle. Strong enough to protect each other. She could only hope that the blonde would quit hating her so much. She could only hope that Naruto would know that what she had to say was the truth.

The brunette stared at the sky at the ever-changing phantasmagoria that existed within the clouds. The way they changed shaped, twisting and twirled in such beautiful ways; and wondered if Naruto saw the same things while gazing at the clouds. Did she see the beauty only lonely eyes could see?

_"__Will you forgive me?" _She began to sing.

_"I lost your favorite ring somewhere_

_I'm sorry, Mama" _It was a song she heard awhile ago, a fairytale like song that seemed to fit the moment. She wasn't sure why.

_Mary, where are you?  
How could you lose my ring?!  
Get back here immediately,  
I'm going to punish you!_

_Please stop, it hurts!_

_I went to look for it_  
_Deep within the forest, and even at the bottom of the lake_

_How long have we been so dysfunctional?_  
_Because it's just the two of us in this castle,_  
_Where pain is our only solace_

_Hey, hold me papa_  
_So tight it feels like I can't breathe_  
_You stopped so coldly like this,_  
_Why won't you wake up?_

_For her 16th birthday_  
_I wrote invitations to everyone_  
_To come and entertain my daughter_

_My white knight with whom I fell in love_  
_Was the best chef in town_  
_He was poisoned by a priest who gave him directions_  
_With wine given in hospitality_

_Hey, papa, isn't it lively?_  
_Once this waltz is over_  
_I'll line up all my modest presents_  
_With only the moon watching_

_How long have your collections been buried in the castle?_  
_However, in the innermost chambers_  
_Your favorite seat is still empty_

_The disconsolate queen_  
_Gave poison to Mary_  
_She said "I won't give her to anyone"_  
_With a kind smile_

_Hey papa, hold me_  
_So tight it feels like I can't breathe_  
_Come quickly to my side_  
_To be with Mary."_

The little brunette finished with tears in her eyes before she got up to go home. It didn't really matter, did it? It was only a dream to think that Naruto would want to do that with her. Didn't she want to be Hokage?

The Hokage watched through the crystal with fearful eyes. First at Naruto, now Hinata? At this rate he'd have at least two missing-nins on his hands. Was there a way to mend these broken girls? Could this be fixed?

* * *

Sasuke found the jounin sensei by a tree with his book. He was determined to defeat him. It didn't matter how hard it was.

"I'm not like them." Sasuke said in determination.

"Say that after you defeat me." Kakashi replied."The strength of Konoha'a #1, the Uchiha clan. This should be interesting." They both ran head-first into battle. Sasuke's attacks were easily dodged, as they were far too obvious to not be noticed. "Such obvious attacks are useless." Kakashi said. After a moment he fell into a trap, many kunai shot out in his direction. He dodged, but it was a close one.

Sasuke then tried to kick him, but Kakashi caught it with ease. They both exchanged blows. Kakashi kept dodging them and Sasuke kept getting hit. The whole time, Kakashi wasn't able to read his book. Sasuke was even able to touch the bell, but couldn't injure the man.

Elsewhere, Naruto found the food after "thinking beneath the underneath." Naruto got caught and got tied to the stump by default after the bell rang.

"Ohhhh... You guys look really hungry... Something about the training..." Kakashi said. "Well there's no need for you guys to go back to the academy." They all seemed happy, mostly Naruto until Kakashi continued. "You should all quit at being ninjas.

"OK! So we didn't get the bells. Why should be quit?" Naruto scoffed and glared at him.

"Because you're all punks you don't deserve to be ninjas." Kakashi grabbed Sasuke and dragged him away and held him down. Sakura screamed after him. "That's why you're punks."

"No! Don't step on Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shrieked.

"Are you guys underestimating ninjas? Huh? Why do you think you were separated and are doing training?" Kakashi'a darkened as he spoke.

"Basically, you guys aren't understand in the answer to the test." He said.

"Answer?" Naruto asked.

"The answer that'll help you pass the test." He stated simply.

"When are you going to tell us?" Sakura asked while trembling.

"What's the damn question, already?" Naruto finally added. She tried to get out of the ropes, but failed miserably. The ropes must be chakra enhanced.

"Teamwork." Kakashi said after Naruto squirmed for a few minutes. "It's futile." He told Naruto after a few minutes. "The three of you working together may have got the bells."

"What do you mean teamwork? There were only two bells! One of us would have failed anyways!" Sakura yelled.

"It was a test to see if you could successfully work together, putting your own interests aside, even in these circumstances." He finally said. "Yet... You guys. Sakura, instead of Naruto who was right next to you, you were thinking of Sasuke who was far away." He said, pointing at her. "Naruto! You were just running around by yourself! Sasuke, you just assumed that they would only get in your way and tried to do... Everything yourself." He said as Sasuke squirmed underneath his foot. "The duties are done by the team. Of coarse individual superiority is important to a ninja. But what's more important is teamwork." He said. "Individual play that disrupts the team can put your teammates in danger and even get you killed!"

"For example." Kakashi leans down. "Sakura, kill Naruto or Sasuke dies!" Both Sakura and Naruto screamed. "You see? If a hostage is taken, you will have tough choices then die. You will be risking your lives in these duties." He walked over to a stone with many etchings in it. "Look at this. The numerous names carved into this stone. These are ninjas who are recognizes as heroes of the village. But... They aren't normal heroes. They are heroes who died while on duty. This is a memorial. My best friend's name is carved on this stone. You guys... I'll give you one more chance. But after lunch I'll make it even harder to get the bells. Those who wish to challenge can eat lunch, but don't give any to Naruto. It's punishment for trying to eat by yourself. If anyone gives any of it to her, they will fail immediately. I am the rules here! Got that?" He said before leaving.

"Heh! I don't need any food!" She sneered, but her stomach have her away. Sasuke shoved his food near her.

"Here." The girls were both shocked.

"Hey! Sasuke-kun, Kakashi just said-" Sakura started, but was interrupted by Sasuke.

"Don't worry. I don't sense him near here. After lunch we'll work together to get the bells." He said. "Without food, she'll just be in the way, and that would hurt us."

"Thanks." She muttered.

"YOU GUYS-" Kakashi yelled, scaring them all. They were so sure he was going to fail them for not listening to what he said. But instead, he said something that shocked them all. "Pass~" in the sweetest voice possible.

"But why?" Sakura asked.

"You guys are the first. Everyone else would just do whatever I told them to. They were all morons. A good ninja sees beneath the underneath. Those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are trash." He said. "But you know what? Those who don't care of their comrades... Are lower than trash. That ends the training! All of you pass. Ninja duties start tomorrow." they all left, leaving Naruto tied to the log. She started to shout at them, but they ignored her. She threw her head back. It didn't matter.

The jinchuriki stared at the sky and the beauty of the clouds. It was a wonderful sight. She could've got lost in it. But then the depressing thoughts came crashing on her. They left her after all that talk of teamwork. They just... Left her.

"N-n-Naruto-chan?" Hinata saw her with mixed expression of shock and horror. "What h-happened?" Naruto explained that they were doing the teamwork test and that her teammates left her after all that talk of teamwork. Hinata untied Naruto hallway through. "S-sorry that happened."

"Why do you care?" Naruto said with dark eyes. "You hate me, don't you?" She said and stood up. "Why?" Hinata's words caught in her throat. She couldn't speak as she watched the girl she loves walk away from her. The brunette could even see the trembling shoulders as the other girl cried.

"Naruto... I love you!" For the first time, Hinata was able to speak clearly without stuttering or blushing. Yet... the confession fell on deaf ears as the girl was already too far away to hear her. She was too far away. She trembled and fell to the ground, sobs shook her to the core. This was it? Was this it? She wished that she'd been braver. Maybe when they're both stronger, she would be able to tell her. Until then... "Why?" Hinata asked, but no answer could be heard in the howling wind. She lifted her head with darkened eyes. All hope drained from her, leaving a hollowed shell. Innocent is dead. The tears tasted like bitter Saccharide.

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**Rate and Review?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the song "Breaking the Habit" by Breaking Benjamin**

**To my reviewers:**

**Emomatt: so much is going to happen, but I'm not sure if anyone else will like Naruto. **

**Thunder Claw03: updated!**

**Kojo208: nope! She won't hate her.**

**HjLostDreams: thanks for the advice! I'll try to avoid clone spamming and show a little more of the actual training. Well, I'll try to. It's getting close to the part where they do the tree climbing training!**

** : if it went too differently I wouldn't have had the last scene... **

**ValeriNeria: thanks! Oh... And updated!**

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The genin and jounin had just finished a D-ranked mission. They were sick of all of the low-ranked missions that they kept getting. They went for another mission. But this time, a higher ranked mission. Naruto trailed behind on the way there with her arms crossed. They didn't even bother to ask if she was alright. They never asked Naruto if she was alright. They stood in front of the Hokage's desk with determination. Well, all but Naruto. She stayed near the door where the shadows clung to her.

"Now... Kakashi's team #7, your next duty is... Hmmmm... Babysitting an elder's grandson, shopping in the neighboring area, and helping with the potato digging." The Hokage smiled.

"Haven't we had enough of these missions." Naruto hissed from the corner. They all jumped because no one knew she was still with them. Team 7 assumed that she got bored and left to do something stupid. But there she was, in the shadows. Her voice held so much venom and spite that it sent shivers down their spines. Who was this girl? Certainly not the Naruro from their youth. "I'm sick of these and I know that you are too!" She shot a glare at the rest. "Don't give me that look." They all back away from her slowly.

"Idiot! You're just a rookie!" Iruka yelled. He was, too, shocked about the way she was acting. "Everyone starts with these small duties and works their way up-"

He stopped talking after she sent the glare his way. He backed up against the wall as she neared him. This could not possibly be Naruto. The vibrancy of her personality was now completely dulled. It's been fading for some time. But now she was hollow, like a shell. There was no telling what she'd do at this point- just like a loose cannon. It was getting out of hand. The Hokage had voiced worries about her, but he thought that it wasn't so serious. But now those fears have been confirmed. She's changing... And in the worst possible way. They were too afraid to send her on this mission.

"Naruto! It seems that I have to explain to you what these missions are about. " The old man said to get het attention. "Listen, everyday the village receives requests from babysitting to assassination. Each of there requests are written down on this list and separated into A,B,C,D ranking based on difficulty. This village is also built on skill. Starting from me, to the jou, chuu, and ge-nins. The missions are then handed down based on skills. If these duties are completed successfully, we receive payment from the client. You guys recently became genin, so d-rank missions are perfect for you." The old man said before realizing that Naruto was ignoring him in favor of the window-view behind him. She was watching the clouds again.

"I'm... Not the brat I once was." She stated simply. The others became agitated at her newfound calmness. It was too bizarre and surreal to be true. This was no Naruto, was it? The other two also protested after awhile of silence.

"If you want it that much... I'll give you a C-rank mission. To protect a certain individual." Naruto's ears perked up. "Hey, will you come in here?" A man opened the door to see three children. An annoying looking girl, a sulking boy, and a girl who looked like she was about to kill someone.

"What's this? A bunch of super-brats? Especially that freaky girl. Are you really a ninja?" The other turned to Naruto while expecting the worst. They weren't sure about her anymore. But at that point she wasn't even listening anymore. Instead, the blond was gazing out of the window and to the clouds again. Why was she always watching the clouds?

"I am the super expert bridge builder Tazuna. I expect for you to provide me with super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge." They began to walk out of the village. Naruto trailed behind them as she did before. "Am I gonna be safe with that freak?" He asked.

"I'm a jounin, you'll be fine." Kakashi said.

* * *

Memories consume

Like opening the wound

I'm picking me apart again

You all assume

I'm safe here in my room

Unless I try to start again

* * *

"Don't worry, there won't be any ninja combat in a C-rank mission!" Kakashi said while patting Sakura's head.

"Then we won't come in contact with foreign ninjas?" Sakura asked hopefully. But then, they caught sight of a water puddle that shouldn't have been there. They passed by at first. Then a ninja began to emerge from the water and wasted no time in attacking them. There were two of them. Their whip-like weapons twisted around Kakashi so that he couldn't escape. Then, they pulled and their sensei was ripped into shreds like confetti being tossed into a blender. The students were in shock. Each separated and began to attack the others. One went for Naruto.

They threw the chains at Naruto, and would have caught her, had it not been for Sasuke's interference. They made eye contact for the first time and finally understood one another. Naruto nodded. She closed her eyes and began to feel some sort of bizarre, hateful power wash over her. The blood in her veins seemed to boil as this new chakra emerged. She assumed that this was the Kyuubi's chakra, although she never used it. It was a darker hue than her own.

"What... What's that!?" Sakura panicked and the sudden change in her blonde teammate's chakra. It went from a vibrant yellow to a violent red do suddenly! What she saw next was even worse. Her chakra began to take the form of a dreaded monster- the kyuubi. She had one tail rather than 9, though. It was still enough to send violent shivers down her spine.

The other teammates also noticed this disturbing change. The only one who didn't react horribly was Sasuke. He only nodded back at her and started on a hand sign to attack. A massive fireball shot from his mouth and scorched the enemies. It wasn't enough to finish them of, though. They were quite powerful. Naruto's skin began to bubble and boil and she started to scream in agony. Her mind started to fade away as the monster took control of her completely. It was a bad ides to try and bring out the Kyuubi's chakra so early, she should've known!

The other two were busy trying to defend Tazuna while the change took place. "Naruto" snarled and lunged at one of the ninjas. She ripped shoved a hand through his chest and crushed his internal organs. Blood poured out a rapid pace and completely dyed her front in it's morbid color. The other ran at her head-on. They exchanged blows for several minutes.

She broke his left arm, at first. The others cringed at the sickening snap of the bone. Kakashi stepped in as an attempt to stop her, but got stabbed in his arm instead. Nothing too bad, but enough to keep him from interfering until he could get a scroll out to suppress the Kyuubi. She slaughtered two men in cold blood before she could be stopped. The others stared in horror as their sensei placed an object on Naruto to subdue her. It had a seal on it. They didn't question the reasoning for it, Naruto was now a danger to herself as well as anyone around her. They could only hope that this event wouldn't repeat itself.

"Were these two after you." Kakashi turned to ask Tazuna.

"What do you mean?" Tazuna asked while trembling. He was horrified at what the was capable of. She truly was a monster.

"Were they after you or one of us?" Kakashi clarified. "We haven't heard that were shinobi after you. Our mission was to simply protect you from thieves and gangs. This has become at least a B-rank mission now. This was supposed to be simple protection until you finished the bridge." He stated. "If it was known that ninjas were after you... This mission would have been as expensive as. B-rank mission. I'm sure you had your reasons, but it causes problems when the mission is lied about. We are now operating outside of our duties."

"We aren't ready for this mission! Let's quit! We need to of something about Naruto. Her chakra is out of control! If you don't do something, she'll slaughter more people!" Sakura cried out.

"It might be too much." Kakashi said.

"No. We started this mission and we must finish it." Sasuke spoke up. "It would be bad for Konoha's reputation if we quit now. You could always call for reinforcements." He suggested.

"Not a bad idea." Kakashi said. "Let's call in for another team to come and assist us. That way we can complete the mission with less problems. We can have one team to defend Tazuna and another to remove enemy forces." He pulled out a scroll and began to write on it. He called out one of his ninja dogs and tied the scroll to him before he ran off into the direction of Konoha.

* * *

I don't want to be the one

The battles always choose

'Cause inside I realize

That I'm the one confused

* * *

The note came in not too long ago that team Kakashi needed backup. The Hokagd decided that Kurenei's team would be perfect for the mission. Each member would be able to track the enemies down and defeat them. Shino, because of his bugs. Kiba, because of his nose and dog. Hinata, because of her byakugan. They were definitely the best choice for the mission. They left that very day after packing everything they'd need to complete the mission. It would take a bit because the others were a day's amount of traveling away. In fact, they were probably in the village by this time. Hinata sure hoped so.

"What kinda mission d'ya think this is?" Kiba asked excitedly. He finally got to leave the limits of Konoha to go on a harder mission. "They said it was easily a B-rank. Why send more Genin like us?" He did make a good point, though. It was strange for them to be chosen instead of chunin or jounin. Why pick rookie when they had ently it more advanced ninjas who could do so much better?

"Don't know." Hinata muttered darkly. She still hasn't reverted back to her self yet and everyone began to worry. It was already bad enough that Sasuke and Naruto went dark on everyone, but Hinata? Something had to have been going on to caused these dramatic changes. Well... Besides the Uchiha massacre, the torment Naruto went through, and the Pain Hinata suffered through all these years. The villagers would obviously deny having anything to do with Naruto's change and Hinata's family was respected too well to point fingers at them.

They were now walking through the forest. It was calm until they found two mutilated corpses along the way. From the remaining chakra, it seems that team 7 had something to do with this. But the viruses had a ominous chakra on them. A mixture of Naruto's chakta and... Something else. Kurenai-sensei must've known something because her eyes narrowed and her fists clenched so tightly that you could see ger knuckles. Something was very wrong with this scene.

The four tiptoed around the corpses as if they held some form of ill omen that would awaken, had they touched the corpses. Even though they were dead, there were still faint traces of chakra left in them. Based on that, they could tell that the two weren't exactly weak. It wiuld take a jounin to defeat them. But from the looks of them, that Naruto girl did this. Just how powerful was she? Hinata followed Kurenai-sensei, her byakugan fully activated as she searched the area for potential enemies. So far there weren't any.

"Did Naruto do this?" Hinata said. Well, more like demanded. Her eyes were icy cold as she watched her sensei from behind. She saw the woman tremble a bit, that have her all the answer she needed. The blonde killed the two. If she could do that already, then maybe they wouldn't need to wait so long to go through with her plan? Hinata thought for a moment before changing her mind. No, they would still need more time to become stronger. They were strong, but not strong enough to fight of any S-ranks who might attack them.

She changed her focus to the ground below. The brunette needed to focua on the task at hand. Fighting off any enemies they might come across. So far there weren't any.

* * *

I don't know what's worth fighting for

Or why I have to scream.

I don't know why I instigate

And say what I don't mean.

I don't know how I got this way

I know it's not alright.

So I'm breaking the habit,

I'm breaking the habit

Tonight

* * *

"We should see the bridge soon, the wave country is at the base of the bridge." Tazuna told them. Before they knew it, they saw it, the bridge was huge in size and towered over them like a great giant.

"Why are in the mist?" Naruto speculated, but didn't actually expect a real answer.

"We'll be in trouble if Gatou finds us!" He told her. "I need to tell you something." Tazuna suddenly said after a bit of silence. "It's about this mission. You're right, it probably is out of your range of duties. It turns out that a super dangerous man if after my life." He said.

"Super dangerous man? Who?" Kakashi asked.

"You've probably heard his name before. A wealthy shippin. Magnate of the name Gatou." Tazuna said.

"Gatou!? Of the Gatou company!?" Kakashi was shocked, to say the least. "He'a said to be one the world's few extremely wealthy people."

"Yes... Officially he runs a large shipping company... But he secretly sells drugs and other illegal items, using ninjas and gang members to take over businesses and countries. He's a very nasty man." Tazuna told them. "It was about a year ago when he set his eyes on the Wave country. Through money and violence, he quickly took control of the country's shipping industry. Gatou now has a monopoly on the shipping industry in the Wave country. The only thing he has to fear now in the completion of the bridge."

"I see..." Sakura said. "You're in the way since you are the one building the bridge."

"So those ninjas were hired by Gatou." Sasuke said.

Naruto stayed silent and watched the group converse. She didn't seem to care so much about what happened to him or the country. She just wanted to finish the mission and get it over with.

"But what I don't understand is that if you had ninjas after you, why did you lie about the mission?" a Kakashi asked.

"The land of waves is super poor. Even the Feudal Lord has no money. We wouldn't be able to afford a B-rank mission. If you quit the mission now... I will definitely be killed. But... Don't worry about it! My cute 10 year-old grandson will only cry for a few days! Oh yea, and my daughter will live a sad life hating Leaf Village ninjas forever! But it won't be your fault! Not at all!" Tazuna said with a dramatic flair. There's no way they wont go for that...

"Well, I guess we have no choice. We'll protect you until you get back to your village." Kakashi said.

"We'll be there soon." The man rowing the boat said. "Tazuna, it looks like we avoided detection so far, but just in case, we'll take the route that has vegetation. That way it'll be harder to spot us." He said, then Tazuna thanked him. Now they were on their way to Tazuna's house.

Naruto thought she saw something and threw a shuriken. She noticed that it was only a rabbit. "Only a rabbit." She said.

"Stop trying to act so cool! There was nothing there!" Sakura yelled.

"Hey... Please stop using shuriken... It's really dangerous." Kakashi warned her with hands lifted in front of him as if to protect himself.

"Hey Midgit! Stop acting like a moron!" Tazuna yelled at her.

"There!" she said and threw another one.

"I said stop!" This time Sakura hit her.

"Someone is after us." She grabbed a hold of Sakura's collar. "Are you stupid?" They had to pry Naruto off Sakura's shirt. But after that the blonde kept shooting the other viscious glares that held promises of blood and pain. She shuddered and looked away from the jinchuriki.

"Oh! Just a rabbit..." She mumbled and kicked it. "It's... White." She mumbles awkwardly.

"Naruto!? What have you done!?" Sakura shrieked.

"It's white... Sakura-san." Naruto stated.

"So what!?" Sakura retorted.

"Someone's after us..." Naruto said again after being ignored by the pinkette. "Don't you know what that means?"

"Everyone get down!" Kakashi yelled and everyone did as he instructed. A man came spiraling down and nearly sliced n' diced them into tiny pieces. He wore a mask that covered half of his face. It was made of bandages that wrapped around like a mummy! In a strange way, it made him look cool. "Well well, if it isn't the hidden Mist's missing-nin, Momochi Zabuza-kun." His sword cut into a tree and he took on it and looked behind to see them. Naruto stared. Just who was this guy? "Everyone, get back. This one's on a whole other level. It will be difficult unless I do this." He pulled up his headband to reveal a sharingan.

"You appear to be sharingan Kakashi. Sorry, but... The old man is mine." Zabuza said.

"Surround and protect Tazuna-San. Do not enter the fight. That'a the teamwork here. Zabuza first... Fight me." Kakashi said, a warning tone in his voice.

"Ah. I already get to see the famous sharingan. I'm honored." Zabuza said mockingly.

"Sharingan?" Naruto asked. Sasuke began to explain how it gives you the ability to read and defeat all kinds of jutsu.

"What's scarier is... That you can copy the user's Justus once you see them. When I was a member of the hidden mist's assassin team, I kept a handbook. It included information on you. And this is what it said... The ninja who had copied over 1,000 Justus, copy ninja Kakashi." Zabuza said. "Now... Let's end the talking. I have to kill that old man. But Kakashi... It seems like I have to beat you first..."

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**Thanks for reading! Rate and Review?**


	6. Author's Note and Teaser

**Dearest readers, lately I've been suffering from a horrible illness commonly known as "writer's block". I have gotten over it and will soon post the long-awaited chapter. Because my apology is so sincere, I will post a little teaser for you! Thank you for reading! **

* * *

"We need to get Tazuna-san to safety before the team gets here to help us." That sounded reasonable. They would need all the time they could get for the reinforcements to show up."We should hide. Being in the open like this will get us killed! We aren't strong enough for them!" Sakura shrieked. Sasuke ignored her, though. His eyes lit up with a sort of strange energy. He had no intention of leaving. He wanted to become stronger, no matter the cost. "Come on Sasuke-san! Don't be stupid!" he flinched. No one calls him stupid!

"Shut up, loser!" He yelled at her.

"Bastard." She retorted and he recoiled in disgust. "Stay and die if you want, I'm getting Tazuna out of here. I'm not risking this mission because of your stupid pride! Come on, Tazuna!" She somehow lifted him and ran to safety, Naruto followed her. It would take more than one to keep the old man safe, after all. Sakura stared at Naruro in disgust. "What are you doing here?" She snarled.

"The same as you. Protecting Tazuna." Naruto responded.

"I can do it alone!" Sakura yelled.

"No you can't. Have you seen them? They're too strong." The blonde glared at her and crossed both arm over her chest. They were behind many trees and bushes. Sakura sent out a few clones and Naruto started to set up a few traps. They built up a pretty good defense that would, at the very least, slow Zabuza down so that they could make their great escape. It would be enough.

They could hear the fighting from behind their hiding spot. It was intense and they all knew it would be unwise to leave during the battle. Their best bet was if their backup came to help subdue and kill the missing-nin. For now hiding was the best option. Anything else would get them killed. It wasn't safe.


	7. Chapter 6

**I finally finished the chapter! Hope you like! It's the wave mission! Only... Lots of things have changed! Can you tell? Thanks for all of the beautiful reviews! The first part is in Sakura'a point of view! **

* * *

Sakura was still in shock from what she saw Naruto do earlier. What the hell was that power? The chakra didn't feel like anything she's ever come across before. It felt... Tainted. Dark. A bit like the new Naruto. It just didn't seem right, somehow. Why did the girl have something like that? She was brought out of her thoughts when Tazuna yelled something out about water. She turned to see that the man, Zabuza, was standing on the water! How did he get there?

"Ninpou... Hidden Mist no jutsu." He said and vanished within the mist. He was... Gone.

"He'll come after me first." Kakashi said. "Momochi Zabuza... As a member of the hidden mist... Was an expert at silent killing. You don't even notice until you're already dead." His eye shiftes back and forth while looking for the silent killer. The mist blocked their vision so that they could only see a few feet in front of them. "It's not like I can use the sharingan perfectly. You guys be careful." He warned them.

Sakura watched the other girl with a sort of morbid curiosity. What was she and why was she here? Whatever Naruto is couldn't be human. No one is that monsteous. Her eyes widened in horror once the most began to thicken. It continued to become harder and harder to see. She heart faint whispers in the mist. They said the named of... Organs. It was Zabuza. He was mocking them! She stepped back to be able to better protect Tazuna. He was their mission, after all.

"... Brain, kidney, heart..." Were the last ones he said. "Which one should I go after?" He said. Most likely to himself. They all stood there, horror-struck. He was deciding how to kill them. Sakura wasn't sure what Kakashi was doing, but she assumed that he was making some sort of hand signs for a jutsu. Probably the sharingan.

The air thickened with killer intent. It felt like... Being squeezed. Like you'd be killed by making a single move. Sakura shuddered. At this point she'd almost rather die than continue to be in such a thick energy. At least it would be quick. She could tell that Sasuke felt the same. She could also tell that he was so observed in himself that he was oblivious to her own fear.

"Sasuke." Kakashi said his name. "Don't worry. I'll protect you guys even if it kills me." it seemed to reassure him. "I don't let my comrades die." He smiled through his mask. Sakura smiled back at him and continued to protect Tazuna as if her very life depended on it. She understood that from now on it wouldn't be easy. Naruto is a monster, Sasuke hates her, and Sakura hears that Hinata has changed. Word has spread that there was something between the Uzumaki and Hyuuga girls. Something huge and nobody knows how to stop it. It's the time to become strong, to show them what a kunoichi is made of.

"It's over." Zabuza said before attacking. They all managed to dodge and keep the old man safe. After nearly being skewered, that is. Kakashi kept him from slaughtering them. Sakura wondered how and her question was instantly answered after seeing his eye. The sharingan. Beyond this point Sakura was too busy protecting Tazuna to notice what was going on in the fight. She turns to Tazuna.

"It'll be ok! Kakashi will figure this out." Sakura said in attempt to reassure the old man. He smiled at her. The pinkette was, with a doubt, the kindest member of the whole team 7. The girl was sincere and gentle while trying to make him feel better because it's what she's good at. It was also the only thing that kept her from losing it in all of this chaos. Why was she even there? "I can't see a thing." She said to herself. "Sasuke-san?" She said instead of her usual "kun" suffix. She never called him that.

"Yes, Sakura-san?" He was curious now, what was that the girl was planning to do?

"We need to get Tazuna-san to safety before the team gets here to help us." That sounded reasonable. They would need all the time they could get for the reinforcements to show up."We should hide. Being in the open like this will get us killed! We aren't strong enough for them!" Sakura shrieked. Sasuke ignored her, though. His eyes lit up with a sort of strange energy. He had no intention of leaving. He wanted to become stronger, no matter the cost. "Come on Sasuke-san! Don't be stupid!" he flinched. No one calls him stupid!

"Shut up, loser!" He yelled at her.

"Bastard." She retorted and he recoiled in disgust. "Stay and die if you want, I'm getting Tazuna out of here. I'm not risking this mission because of your stupid pride! Come on, Tazuna!" She somehow lifted him and ran to safety, Naruto followed her. It would take more than one to keep the old man safe, after all. Sakura stared at Naruro in disgust. "What are you doing here?" She snarled.

"The same as you. Protecting Tazuna." Naruto responded.

"I can do it alone!" Sakura yelled.

"No you can't. Have you seen them? They're too strong." The blonde glared at her and crossed both arm over her chest. They were behind many trees and bushes. Sakura sent out a few clones and Naruto started to set up a few traps. They built up a pretty good defense that would, at the very least, slow Zabuza down so that they could make their great escape. It would be enough.

They could hear the fighting from behind their hiding spot. It was intense and they all knew it would be unwise to leave during the battle. Their best bet was if their backup came to help subdue and kill the missing-nin. For now hiding was the best option. Anything else would get them killed. It wasn't safe.

* * *

Sweet dreams are made of these

Who am I to disagree?

Travel the world and the seven seas

Everybody's looking for something

* * *

Hinata picked herself up after tripping on a branch. They all agreed to separate, even if it wasn't the smartest choice. She checked the position of the sun and noticed that it was easily mid-day. They should be there... Unless they were in a fight. But that was the worst case scenario. She tried not to think about what would happen to Naruto if she ended up in a fight with someone really strong. She could die. But the brunette refused to think of it.

So far she couldn't sense the other's chakra signature yet, which worried the brunette. Was Naruto-chan dead? She hasn't even gotten the chance to explain herself yet! There's so much Hinata wanted to say how she really felt. The blonde deserved to know that somebody actually cared. She quickened her pace, maybe she'd run into them. Maybe she could save her Naruto. Then... She felt it. A strong chakra. There was a battle going on nearby and Naruto was there! Shit!

She began to sprint in that direction with all her might before activating her byakugan. She'd need it if she wanted to walk in at a time like that. Sasuke stood there as if he was in shock and the others were guarding the man. Kakashi was in a large water bubble. Wait- what!?

"You guys! I know you're still out there. This guy's too strong, take Tazuna and run! As long as he's keeping me trapped in this prison, he can't move!" Kakashi yelled at what she assumed was the others. "You too, Hinata!" she shook her head and stepped forward instead. She readied herself to use gentlefist style. Sasuke tried to protest, but she wouldn't hear of it. Her team trained hard for hard missions like thIs one. She worked even harder to become strong to reclaim her rightful place at heir. It would make it that much harder when it was time for the plan. They would take it worse.

Hinata looked at Sasuke expectantly, as if she assumed he had a plan of some sort. He nodded and pulled out a sharingan. They would need to distract them to break the jounin from his water prison. What they didn't know was that the Hinata they saw was actually a clone. There was about 10 stationed around the field. One of them hid in the lake behind them while everyone else was distracted. She whispered to Sasuke that she would use the clones to throw him off.

Several minutes later, many clones began to emerge. The last one that came into view was the one that attached Zabuza from behind while using gentle fist. He dodged it, but dropped the prison and freed Kakashi. Zabuza gave a little speech about how he killed all of the student at his graduation exam. Hinata shuddered at the thought, but didn't comment.

"Are you the backup?" Naruto spat after leaving Sakura alone with Tazuna. "Why am I not surprised?" She pulled out a shuriken and began to tie a top to it. She did a few more and stacked them up.

"What are you doing?" Hinata asked. A moment later she threw them. 10 shuriken with trip wires now crossed the field. She tied a wire to two shuriken and threw each to the opposite sides into trees. "A trap?" She mouthed. "Kind of." Naruto mouthed back. It would cut the field into desperate sections and make it difficult for Zabuza to get to Tazuna. The difference became noticeable instantly. The two shinobi noticed the wires and began to move around them. Leaping over and du cling under the wires as they fought in the battlefield.

"That ought to slow things down." Naruto said after a moment of inspecting her work. "Years of pranking ought to have so e benefits, eh?" She said to no one in particular. "We need to get Tazuna out of here as fast as possible. I'll go with Sakura, if you dong mind." she walked back to the hiding spot where Sakura and Tazuna still hid. "We're leaving." She told them. "Tazuna, it isn't safe." They nodded before getting up to leave. There wasn't a lilt of walking left to do to get there, so it wouldn't take too long. The waves was a small village, after all. Kakashi and Zabuza continued their fight (mostly as in canon except for the wires).

"You're right. He's dead! " a girlish voice said as they walked away. Hinata stayed, though. She watched as the girl or boy leapt from the tree and to Zabuza's dead body. For some reason the brunette felt apprehensive about this newcomer, but decided that it was due to the other's enormous amount of power. The child was about their age, but was so much more powerful. It was disturbing, to say the least. The other should be about the level of a genin at that age!

"Thank you very much!" The other bowed. "I have been searching for an opportunity to kill Zabuza for so long!"

"That mask... You're a hunter-nin." Kakashi said

"Impressive... You are correct!" The hunter-nin said.

"Hunter-nin!?" The others asked.

"Yes. My duty is to hunt down missing-nins. I'm a member of the Hidden Mist's hunter-nin team." the hunter-nin said.

"How's that possible?" Sasuke said.

"In this world there are kids younger than you... Yet stronger than me." Kakashi said.

"Your battle is over. Now I must dispose of the body." Haku picked up the body and left. Hinata stared at the hunter-nin in awe as she or he left.

* * *

Some of them want to use you

Some of them want to get used by you

Some of them want to abuse you

Some of them want to be abused

* * *

At this point, everyone was at the house already. Kakashi was in bed from chakra exhaustion and the others were waiting for him to get up. Kiba and Shino were sitting at the table along with Hinata, Sakura, Sasuke, and Sakura. They sat in silence and time ticked by as slowly as molasses.

"I'm so bored!" Kiba finally wailed and threw his arms about. "How can we just sit here like this?" Hinata, Sasukr, and Naruto glared at him. He shut up and quickly turned away from their icy eyes. He thought Sasuke was bad, Naruto was scarier! Even worse than that was Hinata. Her glare could freeze the sun's very core. He decided from them on that it would be a terrible idea to anger any of the three. It would result in dire consequences. Like being frozen into a Kiba-cicle. That wouldn't be good!

"Naruto-chan." Hinata said. "Naruto-chan, I need to talk to you." everyone's eats perked up. "Alone" and they all sighed and complained. They just had to know what was going on between the two girls. But Naruto ignored her in favor of her kunai. She chose now, of all times, to sharpen them. The blonde picked up a rock on the way there and decided that it would be a perfect way of sharpening her weapons so that they didn't go dull. "Naruto! Quit ignoring me. You're acting so immature and it's starting to annoy me. Come with me right now so that we can talk!" She snapped.

Naruto glared at her, but complied. They both walked outside and to an open clearing that was a bit far away so that no one would have to deal with them if things got out of hand. So that no one could stop them if they broke out in combat. Or at least, that was what Naruto was thinking at the time. Why else would they go out so far? They stopped and Hinata began to throw senbon at her. She pierced the blonde's clothing and pinned her to the tree behind her.

"What are you doing!?" Naruto screamed. "Let me go!"

"No. If I don't do this you'll either run away or try to fight me. I want you to listen to me! I don't know what's going through that thick head of yours! I don't hate you. I don't even dislike you! You don't understand anything, do you?" Naruto struggled against the senbon and she even pulled several of them loose. "No, you don't!" She hit Naruto in the stomach with her gentle fist. She coughed up a bunch of blood. She immediately began to heal, but that would take awhile because Hinata destroyed part of her internal organs. "Listen to me!"

"Why are doing this? It's a waste of time!" Naruto sneered. "You're pathetic! Do you actually think you can lie to me?"

"SHUT UP!" Hinata yelled.

"Do you actually think that you can fool me?" Naruto growled and began to pull out. Once her arms were free, she was able to pull the rest out with her arms. "Quit lying to me! You're no better than the rest! I hate you!" By the time Naruto quit yelling, she was completely out of breath. She was panting and sweating. It wouldn't have been so bad, but her internal organs were rebuilding themselves after being completely crushed and broken. Hinata sighed before leaning against a tree as if admitting defeat. She looked so... Broken.

"Yea? Well I love you." Naruto scoffed and walked away from her. Hinata felt her heart tearing into millions of pieces. She wouldn't cry this time, though. Those days are long gone and now there were none left to shed. "You were never going to listen to me. Were you, Naruto?" The blonde stood still. "You won't even let me tell what I wanted to do. My reasons? I had an idea. We don't have to suffer anymore! I can free you from this! Just listen to me. I have an idea." Hinata pleaded with her. She could only hope that Naruto would at least give a moment to explain things to her. "Just let me tell you. Please?"

"I don't want to." Naruto stated simply and started to walk away again without turning back. Is that it?

There was nothing left for her anymore as she followed Naruto back to the house. They both entered the house quietly so that no one could hear them. They both say down on opposite sides if the table. Neither dared look at the other.

"Kakashi is awake." Sakura told them.

They both went to the room where Kakashi was.

"Are you alright, sensei?" A woman said, presumably Tazuna's daughter.

"Yea... I just can't move for a week or so." Kakashi said.

"What? The sharingan is incredible but... If it puts so much stress on the body, I guess you have to think before using it." Sakura said.

"Well, we defeated that strong of a ninja! We should be safe for awhile." Tazuna said uncertainly while scratching a head and hoping he was right.

"By the way. Who was that masked kid?" Sakura inquired.

"That's the mask worm by the Hidden Mist's special hunter-nin team. They are also known as body-erasers. Their duty is to completely dispose of the body without a trace." Kakashi said. Sakura and Sasuke began to listen more closely. "A ninja's body has within it secrets of the village's nin-jutsu. Information on different chakra types, herbs, and other things that will reveal things about the village." He said.

"For example, if I died, the secrets of the sharingan could be revealed. If you don't be careful there's the danger that the enemy will steal your jutsu." Kakashi continued. "A ninja's body can reveal important information. So, by killing and disposing of the missing-nins who have abandoned their village. The hunter-nin protect the information from getting out. They are the specialists who protect their village's secrets." Kakashi paused. The air thickened. "No sound, no smell. That is a ninja's end."

* * *

Sweet dreams are made of these

Who had a mind to disagree?

Travel the world and the seven seas

Everybody's looking for something

* * *

Haku leaned over Zabuza's body. He picked out his tools to get to work.

"First I'll cut the mouth cloth, drain some blood, and..." Zabuza suddenly grabbed her arm and removed his own mouth cloth.

"That's alright. I'll do it myself." He said.

"Oh. You've already come back to life. Haku said.

"Damn. You sure are rough." Zabuza said after ripping the senbon out of his neck.

"Oh! You shouldn't be so rough yourself, you'll really die pulling them out like that." Haku said.

"How long are you going to wear that stupid mask?" Zabuza asked.

"It reminds me of old days." Haku said. "Plus, it was useful for this act." He said and pulled the mask off and revealed a feminine face. "If I hadn't saved you, you would have definitely been killed."

"If you were going to put me into a momentary death, you didn't have to use my neck... You could've used a safer acupuncture point." He said accusingly. "You are annoying as always." He said.

"You're right." Haku said. "I just didn't want to scar your beautiful body." He said. "And... The neck doesn't have much muscle. It's easier to hit the acupuncture point there... You shouldn't be able to move much for about a week. But... You might be able to move pretty soon." He said.

"You are so clever and pure... That's what I like about you." Zabuza said.

"That's because I'm just a kid." Haku replied with a smile. "Look. The mist has cleared." He stood up. "Next time... Will you be alright?"

"Next time I will defeat the sharingan." Zabuza said.

* * *

**Rate and Review?**


	8. Chapter 7

**Not my best, but it's something... I don't own Naruto or the song World Alone (Lorde does)**

* * *

Their sensei suddenly sat up with a puzzled look on his face. Something was wrong. Everyone but Naruto moved closer to find out what it was. The blonde quickly and swiftly stood up and left without as much of a word. No one knew why. Well, except for Hinata. Their eyes made contact for a brief moment before she walked out of the room, leaving Hinata alone to the rest of the group. Who, no doubt, would have many questions for her later on. But now it was time to see what puzzled their sensei.

"What's wrong, sensei?" Sakura was the first to speak up. The other sat there gravely and shifted a little ever once in awhile.

"Hm... Well... Body erasing teams usually dispose of the body they killed right there." They all froze for a moment before Sakura decided to speak again. No one else seemed to be asking. Hinata might've in the past, but now she was different.

"So what?" Sakura asked.

"Don't you see? How did the masked boy dispose of Zabuza's body?" Kakadhi said as if he was trying to prove some kind of point.

"How could we know? He took the body with him." Sakura stated, but didn't catch onto the point her sensei was trying to make. Hinata leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes while waiting for them to continue. She wanted to be up to date before chasing after Naruto again. Even if her attempts were futile.

"Yea... If he needed proof of his work he could've just taken the head." Kakashi said. Then it clicked. Maybe Zabuza was still alive? "And the weapon he used to kill Zabuza." Senbon.

"No way." Sasuke was in shock, Hinata could tell.

"Exactly... Yea." Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck and moved to sit up even further. "Most likely... Zabuza is alive." He said. They were all shocked and disturbed. They all yelled out in surprise. Naruto was missing so much after leaving abruptly like that. Where the hell was that girl!?

"What the hell do you mean!? You checked to make sure he was dead!" Kiba yelled and stood up, Sakura agreed with him.

"Yea, I did. But that was most likely... A momentary death." Kakashi finally said. "The needle that the hunter-nin used. Unless it hits a vital organ, it has a low probability of killing you opponent. It's even an item used by doctors in acupuncture therapy. Hunter-nins know about the body's structure thoroughly. Putting a person into a momentary death is probably easy for them. First, he carried the body of the much heavier Zabuza. Second, he used a weapon that has a low probability of killing. These two points indicate that his motive was... Not to kill Zabuza, but to save him." he said. "We can't ignore that possibility." They all thought long and hard about this. Well, everyone but Tazuna.

"Aren't you thinking too much? Hunter-nins are supposed to kill missing-nins." Tazuna said as if it was the most obvious thing. Kakashi sighed and began to explain how this couldn't just be left alone with all of the suspicion. It wasn't the shinobi way. Also, there was a possibility that Gatou could've just hired a stronger guy if he was, in fact, dead. So there was no time to sit around while thinking it was safe. Also, saying that they needed to be prepared before it's too late. Hinata glances over to Sakura, who quickly sat up straighter.

"Sensei, what do you mean prepare before it's too late? You can barely move!" the medic-nin inside of the girl protested. Hinata could tell. She really did care for her comrades, even if she wasn't very physically strong. Although Sasuke and Naruto didn't pay her much mind. They didn't see the strength the girl had hidden within. But she had flaws. For instance, how she abandoned Ino because of silly rumors of her liking the same guy. Although Hinata has reason to believe that they were just that, rumors. Besides, everyone now knows that Ino likes Chouji. Well, everyone but Chouji.

"Heheh." He suddenly laughed. "You guys will receive training." As soon as he said this, Sakura stood up in shock and pointed at him aggressively.

"Huh? Training!?" Hinata watched Sakura fume. "Sensei, what is a little training going to do? Our enemy is a ninja you struggled against, even with sharingan!" She spat out while trembling. She was clearly angry and terrified, but there was an unidentifiable light in her eyes. Something that screamed "danger". It was... Quite dark. But Kakashi interrupted her before she could come up with a sound argument.

"Sakura, who saved me when I was struggling? You guys are getting stronger." He said and paused. "Especially... Naruto." But he shudderes at the thought, as did everyone else. She was dangerous. The only one who hadn't reacted negatively was Hinata, who didn't respond at all. She only sat there with her eyelids closed, leaning against the furthest wall in the room. She didn't care. "But obviously this is training until I get better, you won't be able to defeat him without me." Kakashi said.

They all thought about this for a moment, especially Hinata. She wondered why they were still sitting there if they could be attacked. Training was the most obvious thing they should be doing. Instead, they just sat there for hours and did nothing. This wouldn't do them any good. She was about to say something, but Kiba asked about the training first. Hinata waited for Kakashi's answer. He wasn't her sensei, but he could suggest it to Kurenei. She would most likely go through with the training, as well.

"About that..." Kakashi said. "It should take awhile for avperson's body to return to normal after being put into a momentary death situation." He said calmly. "So until then, we will train." He sat up all the way. Kiba said something about it being fun. That's when Naruto came back inside. This time she was wearing a form-fitting black t-shirt with blue shorts and sandles. So she changed into clean clothes... Right. "Training? Sounds fun." She said flatly and crosses her arms. This was the first time she agreed the Kiba. Hinata stated in awe and shock.

"That's not fun." A kid wearing overalls and a striped hat came out.

"Oh! Inari! Where were you!" Tazuna exclaimed as the kid, Inari, ran into his arms.

"Welcome back, grandpa." The kid said and watched the strange people warily. He clearly didn't like them.

"Inari, say hello to these people. They are ninjas who protected grandpa." His mom said to him. The kid didn't listen, though. Instead, he said something that shocked them all.

"Mom... They are going to die." He pointed at them. Kiba began to yell at the kid, but Naruto didn't react. In fact, Hinata noticed that she hasn't been reacting to much after reentering the room. That was strange. She was even more shocked when the blonde stood up and stepped in front of the boy. Kiba started talking about heroes and how awesome he was. "What, are you stupid? There's no such thing as heroes." Naruto silently agreed.

"What are you saying, Naruto!?" Sakura yelled at him.

"If you don't want to die, you should leave." He said and left.

"Where are you going!?" Tazuna asked in panic.

"To my room to watch the ocean." He said. Naruto followed after him even with all the protest. They didn't want her near the child. But she ignored them. Hinata followed after her and used a Genjutsu so they thought she was still on the room with them. She watched as the blonde entered the room of the crying child and left after hearing him cry for his dad. Naruto looked indifferent. This wasn't a good sign. What would she do? She left to go back to the room, where she found that everyone was leaving to go train in the forest. Naruto soon followed.

But what was with her? She's been acting even darker and more distant since they last talked. She still ignored Hinata. This wasn't good. So she followed Naruto and grabbed the girl's hand to go somewhere private. At first the blonde protested, but later gave in. They were away from the others and they didn't notice yet.

"What the fuck do you want!?" Naruto yelled at her and ripped her arm away. "Leave me alone." she tried to walk away, but Hinata threw a kunai at her and pinned her arm to a tree. Well, her sleeve. "Oh. So we're doing THIS again, are we?" The jinchuriki growled. "Bloody-fucking-predictable." she scoffed. "So, what do you want to say to me this time?"

The brunette said nothing and watched Naruto with calculating eyes. There was no way she'd be getting away this time. Not again. Naruto pulled at the kunai and Hinata shot a senbon at a pressure point to paralyze her. Not again.

"What the fuck!? Let me go, damn it!" She tried and failed to move. "Why won't you leave me alone?" She whispered.

"You won't listen to what I have to say." Hinata said. Just... Listen." Naruto nodded reluctantly and have up. "I... Don't understand why you hate me so much. I don't understand." She said gravely and sat down in front of a tree. "I want you to tell me why? What did I ever do to you?" They stayed silent for several minutes while the Kyuubi's chakra began to work on removing the effects of the senbon so that she could remove it.

"I hate you!? No! You. Hate. Me." Naruto yelled out in rage. "Why are you so vain to think I even give a shit about you? You aren't worthy of my hatred." Hinata gaped at her, much like a fish out of water. This was so... Surreal. Not in a good way. She felt sick. Naruto quickly realized how Hinata was really feeling, but it was too late. Hinata ran away from her and back to the place that would be their makeshift training grounds. Nobody could get Hinata to talk to them even after explaining the tree-climbing routine they started on. She was angry- and for good reason.

She trained hard. Running up the tree with such force, yet with such delicate chakra on her feet. As a Hyuuga, she had been taught to use chakra in such ways. That was what the gentle fist technique was all about. Chakra control. Although through her fits of rage, she found that she continuously broke into the trees where she wouldn't normally. This technique should've been easy, but she was so pissed off at the moment that focusing was impossible. Nobody dared ask why, but they knew that this should've been easy for her. Oh so easy.

Hours have passed by and she was tired and sweaty. She laid down on the ground and Naruto was still training. She felt somebody pick her up, it was Sakura. The pink haired girl gave a weak smile and carries her back to Tazuna'd house. It was silent until Sakura spoke up.

"I won't ask about what happened with Naruto, but I can only guess that it wasn't good. She looks so guilty and you... Look angry. What did she do to you?" Sakura asked quietly. Normally they wouldn't talk, but something bothered the pinkette kunoichi. "You don't have to answer that. Sorry." Hinata didn't have it in her to argue, so she told the whole story of how she tried to get Naruto to say why she hated her so, only to find out that Naruto thought Hinata hated her instead. "I see." Sakura murmured and placed her on a bed. "Rest here. I'll get you some water. You're dehydrated." Hinata didn't even ask how she knew that.

* * *

_That slow burn wait while it gets dark, bruising the sun._

_I feel grown up with you in your car, I know it's dumb._

* * *

After finishing up with the tree climbing exercises, Naruto began to hit the tree endlessly until her fists bled. After that, was kunai practice. Then shadow clone practice. She was able to maintain them for a little bit longer than before. But not long enough to use them efficiently. It was an improvement, though. But it was getting dark by now and everyone else already left. She was still training. Her knuckles bloodied and her feet were sore. She walked to a nearby stream to wash them off.

It's been many hours since she spoke the the Hyuuga. That annoying girl who actually thought that Naruto wouldn't see it. But now the blonde knew she was wrong all along and the other girl never truly hated her. She didn't know what to think anymore nor what to feel. Why was it that the other could express herself like that? She didn't do it for other people... Only... Naruto. The blonde felt the tears long after they came and couldn't stop them once they flooded her vision. What the hell was she thinking? Why was it like this? A Hyuuga and a Jinchuriki. Bitter... And sweet... Like Saccharide. It wasn't fair.

She picked up the scattered weapons and made her way back to Tazuna's when she noticed someone. It was a girl with a pink, sleeveless girl smiled and approached the enraged blonde and held out an apple. Naruto stared in confusion before reluctantly accepting the red fruit. She bit into delicately and examined the girl in front of her. By now it was dark outside. The sun was down and the only light now came from the moon. It lit up the brunette's delicate features and brought out the soft light of her eyes.

"Why are you out so late?" Naruto asked the girl. She giggled in response and dat down next to the blonde.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." She smiled and picked up another apple. "You're hurt." she sighed. "How long have you been training?" Naruto shrugged. "Oh." They sat out there like that in a comfortable silence. Neither spoke or even dared to move. It was so perfect and serene. Nothing like the two have ever felt before. So... Odd. Who was this girl?

"Who are you?" Naruto asked. "I'm Naruto." She said.

"Ah. I'm Haku. Hello, Naruto." They both smiled. "For what do you train so hard?" The brunette suddenly asked.

"Excuse me?" Naruto replied.

"Do you have a precious person?" A precious person. Hinata flashed through the blonde's mind, but she quickly brushed it off. After thinking for a few minutes, she gave up and shook her head in defeat. Haku's eyes widened a bit at this. "No one?" Naruto shook her head again. Haku sighed and placed a hand on Naruto's arm, but the blonde shook it off and stood up. She starting to walk away.

"I should leave now. It's late." She began to walk away when she felt a hand wrap around her wrist. She tried to loosen the other's grip, with no luck. Their eyes met for a brief moment.

"I hope you meet that special someone." Haku said.

And Naruto ran for it once her hand was free. She ran to the house as fast as she possibly could, ignoring the shouts of surprise as the skipped out on dinner and took a bath instead. It didn't help her to relax. So she went to bed instead and wrapped herself in the warm blankets. This was her temporary sanctuary. Everyone else was still eating, so she would be alone for awhile. She closed her eyes in hopes of getting sleep, but the sounds of footsteps woke her up. A plate was placed in front of her. Then a moment later, whoever that was left the room.

Why did that girl have to go and say something like that? Special someone? How stupid and immature! Then again, the girl was a child.

_"But I'm a child." _Naruto thought darkly and held the covers tightly while completely ignoring the food. It must've gotten cold by bow. Oh well. What did it matter? She sighed and rolled on her stomach. She couldn't sleep with all of these thoughts in her head. What did it all mean? Why did that girl give her that apple? It was all to weird. It was all too foreign. These weird and warm feelings. _"I must be sick." _She reasoned. Yes, that must be it. Sickness. Nothing healed sickness better than rest. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep again. That... Must be it. That must be it.

But what the girl said wouldn't stop haunting Naruto's thoughts. What she even mean by that? By "special someone"? Who was even that special in Naruto's life? Most people only wanted to hurt the blonde jinchuriki. Maybe she meant a friend or family member? Those were usually considered special. Right? Then again, that's not usually what a person meant when they say that. Why did it even matter, anyways? Why did Naruto even care about what some random girl had to say, anyways? It wasn't important. But if it wasn't important, then how come it's the only thing on the blonde's mind? She spent the night that way, in the uncomfortable silence. Everyone piled in and took their respective spots and went to sleep peacefully. Except for Hinata. She never saw the brunette walk in.

_"This is going to be a long night." _she thought with a sigh.

* * *

_We've both got a million bad habits to kick, not sleeping is one_

_We're biting our nails, you're biting my lip, I'm biting my tongue_

* * *

Hinata went back outside to train as everyone else went to sleep. She didn't see any point to being there if Naruto wouldn't even let her talk properly. Did any of that sink into that thick-skulled idiot? Probably not, considering how she's been acting as of late. How annoying. _"It had to be her, didn't it?"_ She thought with a bitter smile. _"It couldn't be someone happy or stable, like Ino, perhaps. Even Sakura would've been easier to deal with. No, never mind."_ she was obsessed with that Sasuke kid. Which wasn't really much better, if you think about it.

She pulled out a few senbon, fanned them out, and tossed them to hit separate trees. They all hit their marks. She pulled out six more and held them delicately between her knuckles before throwing those. One missed because she began to space out again. After throwing a few more, she decided to work on her gentle fist technique, a nearby tree being her victim. She practiced until she couldn't move so easily due to chakra exhaustion. She leaned against the tree and pulled out a small loaf of bread, eating some of it while sharing with the birds. _"Why not? They looked hungry."_ she reasoned while pulling of another crumb. It was a cool night. Night not hot, not too cold. But it was also... very lonely. Not another soul dared to be out at this hour. Only her. Oh well. It was nice this way. No one to disturb the peace.

She began to think back on all of her past encounters with Naruto. Nothing seemed to get through to that girl! Even after telling her very clearly what she felt, it wasn't enough? Well, not THAT clearly. But any normal person would've gotten the message by now. Then again, she wasn't exactly normal, now was she? Great. _"It was no use, was it?"_ Hinata thought as she dozed off.

* * *

_Raise a glass, 'cause I'm not done saying it._

_They all wanna get rough, get away with it._

_Let 'em talk 'cause we're dancing in this world alone, world alone, we're all alone._

* * *

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